


Primrose Path

by central_city_meta_pocalypse, darling_pet, letyourimaginationrun



Category: The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Abduction, Acceptance, Action, Action & Romance, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Mob, Anger, Angry Sex, Angst, Apologies, Arguing, Awkward Conversations, Awkwardness, Babies, Background Relationships, Backstory, Bad Guys Made Them Do It, Bathing/Washing, Blood, Blood and Violence, Blow Jobs, Blushing, Bonding, Break Up, Bubble Bath, Business, CEO, Chaptered, Children, Coma, Comfort, Confessions, Confrontations, Cowgirl Position, Crossover, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cunnilingus, Cute, Cute Kids, Daddy Kink, Dancing, Danger, Dark Magic, Death, Desk Sex, Desperate Sex, Desperation, Destruction, Detectives, Dinner, Dirty Dancing, Dirty Talk, Doggy Style, Domestic Fluff, Drama, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Engagement, Epilogue, Evil Plans, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Face-Fucking, Face-Sitting, Falling In Love, False Accusations, Family Drama, Family Issues, Fear, Festivals, Fights, Final Battle, Fingerfucking, First Dance, First Dates, First Meetings, First Time, First Time Blow Jobs, Flirting, Flowers, Fluff, Friendship, Funny, Gardens & Gardening, Gossip, Grinding, Gun Violence, Guns, Gunshot Wounds, Heart-to-Heart, Heartache, Heartbreak, Heartbreaking, Heavy Angst, Help, Honeymoon, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Humor, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Illegal Activities, Implied Sexual Content, Innocence, Insecurity, Kidnapping, Killing, Kissing, Knives, Laughter, Light Angst, Lingerie, Living Together, Loss of Innocence, Loss of Virginity, Love, Love Confessions, MafiaBoss!Harry, Magic, Makeouts, Makeup, Makeup Sex, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Medical Procedures, Medical Trauma, Medication, Meet the Family, Meet-Cute, Mentions of Cancer, Mentions of War, Metahumans, Military Background, Minor Character Death, Missionary Position, Missions, Misunderstandings, Mobboss!harry, Moving In Together, Multiple Personalities, Murder, Mystery, Naked Cuddling, Neck Kissing, Nicknames, Nightmares, Nipple Play, Novel, Oral Sex, Organized Crime, Paparazzi, Picnics, Plans, Police, Post-Coital Cuddling, Pregnancy, Prison, Promises, Protectiveness, Ransom, Reader-Insert, Realization, References to Depression, Rescue Missions, Revelations, Revenge, Romance, Rumors, S.T.A.R. Labs, Sacrifice, Sad, Secrets, Seduction, Self-Sacrifice, Sex, Sexual Content, Sexy, Sexy Times, Shooting, Shooting Guns, Skinny Dipping, Sleep Deprivation, Sleeping Together, Sleepy Cuddles, Slow Dancing, Smile, Speeches, Spies & Secret Agents, Step-parents, Suspicions, Sweet, Team Up, Teenagers, Threats, Threats of Violence, Tickling, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Training, Vacation, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Villains, Violence, Wall Sex, Wayward Daughters, Wedding Fluff, Wedding Night, Wedding Planning, Weddings, Wordcount: Over 100.000, abilities, powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-05-21 12:45:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 52,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14915631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/central_city_meta_pocalypse/pseuds/central_city_meta_pocalypse, https://archiveofourown.org/users/darling_pet/pseuds/darling_pet, https://archiveofourown.org/users/letyourimaginationrun/pseuds/letyourimaginationrun
Summary: When you, a lovely florist, move to Central City to open your flower shop, you had no idea you’d fall for such a complicated and dangerous man who deals in a less-than-legal business. Harrison Wells - a major player and powerhouse within the underground mafia world of the region - sweeps you off your feet as you quickly become his greatest weakness.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please keep in mind this is an AU - Alternate Universe - so not everything will be canon. We’ve made plenty of changes to fit our story.
> 
> After four months over our labour of love, my best friends (Tumblr users @central-city-meta-pocalypse & @letyourimaginationrun) and I would like to present our baby, Primrose Path. So, after writing over 100K words of a story full of fluff, angst, drama, sex, heartbreak, and so much love, we are extremely happy to finally be able to share this with all of you.

****

 

**Primrose Path.**

Phrase: _the pursuit of pleasure, especially when it is seen to bring disastrous consequences..._

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

You had heard about Central City and their metahuman phenomenon, but seeing a person’s abilities with your own two eyes is the most amazing thing you’ve ever witnessed. **  
**

When you'd watched the reports on the news before moving here, they only ever showed the dangers of metahumans and the ones who decided to try and bring this city to its knees.

But your first encounter is nothing like that.

You almost drench your poor flower pot stationed outside your flower shop, Primrose Path, when you see your first metahuman. The man is rugged and dirty with tattered clothes. You assume he’s homeless, and offer a kind smile. He returns it, then takes notice of the begonia display drooping - a cause of the relentless summer sun. The man reaches for a petal, and instantly at the contact, the flower blooms back to life in full colour. You stand there mesmerized. It's an utterly incredible gift, the power of restoration, right there at this man's fingertips.

“My goodness, thank you, Sir-”

“-Stand back, Miss!” hollers an authoritative voice. When you turn, you see a tall, blond, and well-groomed police officer who is taking cautious steps towards the man, acting as though he's just threatened your life rather than give assistance to your flowers. His hand is readily on his gun in his holster. You start to panic.

“No, no, really officer! I’m fine, he-”

“Get inside to safety, now!” he shouts. You drop your watering can and the contents spill all across the sidewalk. There’s no reason to be afraid, but the tone of the officer’s words themselves is what’s most frightening. You heed his orders and run into your flower shop. The very second you close the door, the officer clamps a pair of rather heavy duty handcuffs on the man, who is now hanging his head, and reads him his rights.

But even though muffled behind the glass, it sounds as if this metahuman, this man who did no wrong, has none.

 

***

 

Harry ends his call, sighing heavily as he sinks back down at his desk. Papers litter the glass plane, all regarding new projects and current ones to be approved for Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories - or S.T.A.R. Labs - utilization.

Tossing his own phone aside, his hand smooths over one of the documents in front of him. He presses his lips into a thin line, anger culminating inside him from the phone call. He takes a small gadget from the corner of his desk and hurls it to the other side of the room. The device shatters when it smashes against the wall.

Frustrated, that's what he is. Annoyed, about to go ballistic - a volcano preparing to erupt and spread fiery lava at any second.

There’s a brief, firm knock at his office door.

" _What_?" he snaps, one hand rubbing his temple while his other hand grips the arm of his chair. The door opens and a man puts his head around it, looking a little anxious at the tone of his boss' voice.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Sir, but we've just had news that one of the vacant shops has been occupied by someone no one seems to have heard of. Apparently they’re from out of town. It's only two blocks away and... Well, we thought you should know."

Harry's eyes narrow at the lower-rank man, adjusting his posture so that an elbow is propped on the armrest of his chair while his chin sits in the middle of his palm. He looks at the timid employee for a few seconds, with a dangerous storm brewing in his glare. The younger man swallows, palms sweaty as he avoids doing any sort of action to piss off the dark-haired scientist.

"I'll deal with it," Harry grumbles through gritted teeth, bitter rage still boiling within him from the previous and unsuccessful phone conversation. The blond goon senses that his boss is feeling extremely prickly at the moment and simply moves forward, placing a piece of paper with the address of the new tenant on the edge of the desk. Turning, he leaves in a hurry without any further words so as to not poke the bear.

 _Two blocks away?_  That was awfully close. Somewhere for someone new to get near to him, threaten him in his own territory.

Harry stands, walking over to the large window which overlooks the city below him. This is his city, and he'll be damned if someone tries to make a move to change that. He grabs his gun and strides through the company building, holding an antagonistic expression and glaring at anyone who dares look him in the eye.

Outside, the sun is up in the middle of the vast blue sky, signalling that it’s midday. The city bustles with noise as people chatter through the streets and birds chirp from tree to tree. If anything, the city-life only fuels Harry’s bellicose mood as the world around him seems to experience ecstasy and bliss while he has to address a current complication on his territory.

Harry continues his war-path through the populous streets, weaving through the gaps in the crowds to arrive at the now occupied property. His hand instinctively touches the cool metal of his concealed gun behind him, slender fingers at the ready to pull out the firearm if necessary.

Danger, an anomaly, or another bastard seeking to do away with his work - Harry’s prepared to show whoever the hell set foot on his property just who owns Central City.

What Harry doesn’t expect is coming face to face with… potted plants? An array of flowers that sit within tiny, terracotta pots… He blinks, reading the sign above,  _Primrose Path_ , thinking this is some sort of prank or front.

_Is this really a floral shop?_

Outside the quaint business sit several baskets of brightly coloured flowers, leading up to the door where beyond it, lay more and more crates of blooms all over the interior of the shop. And that's when Harry first hears your voice come from just inside the door.

"Six pink roses and a selection of white flowers to fill it out, wasn’t it? Oh, I’m sure that’ll make a wonderful display. Your mother is going to love it!"

Maybe Harry wasn’t as prepared as he thought.

The tenderness of your voice was definitely something he didn't expect. In fact, it rather takes him aback. Harry ducks and steps out of the way of the window so he wouldn’t be spotted, casting a glance at this new ‘resident’. Oddly enough though, when he catches sight of you, his fingers go limp from clutching his weapon. A weird, warm feeling courses through him as his eyes scan what they can from where he currently stands. It must be his gut warning him of something. With eyebrows knitting together, Harry figures he should go about this with caution.

He observes you with the customer, who had supposedly said something humorous because Harry hears you giggle and sees you covering your mouth. Your eyes crinkle in this adorable way that makes his stomach flip.

“Damn... she’s cute,” he mutters while hiding behind a hanging plant, peeking in through the window once more. He watches you for a few minutes, interacting with the customer and arranging a recent delivery of stock in your new premises. Your bright smile is utterly captivating and Harry finds the corner of his mouth turn up in a tiny smile as he looks at you. You couldn't be a threat, surely? No one that sweet would be trying to challenge him.

You let out another radiant laugh before Harry decides it’s time to leave. At the moment, he doesn’t consider you a risk or even a potential enemy in the future. Sometimes the property he owned was just a prime piece of real estate for someone to open a business. He has a hard time remembering that not everyone in this world has it in for him.

His hands bury into his pants pockets, still unable to wipe his smile away. He walks back to his company with the bell-like sound of your voice replaying in his head. The image of yourself has been burned into his mind.

"I'll come back and deal with this later," he whispers to himself, now registering how dry his throat had become.

He’ll deal with it... just not in the way he initially thought.

 

***

 

_Ding ding!_

You can’t stop the little gasp that escapes you when you see who it is walking through your door.

Since the event with the cop and the metahuman outside your shop, you’d been researching the creation and rise of the metahumans, and all of your reading seemed to culminate around the man now standing at the counter in your inconsequential little shop; one of the most famous, or maybe infamous, people in the city.

Doctor Harrison Wells.

From what you’d read, the man was a mystery, wrapped up in an enigma, wrapped up in a suit. A rather gorgeous, designer suit at that.

Several articles you’d found linked back to the War of the Americas and Harrison Wells’ name was prominently featured within them. He’d been discharged at the end of the war with a commendation and an award for bravery, though you hadn’t been able to find what it had been an award for. But now he seems to be seen more as a war-hero-turned-mad-scientist who had seen fit to turn this city upside down for his own gain as no one in Central City seemed to know what he and his team were working on in the high-rise S.T.A.R Labs building.

But despite much of this mockery and antagonism towards him, he had never been challenged to stop his work. He was a force to be reckoned with, and woe betides anyone who got in his way.

The rumours surrounding him seemed to go from the sublime to the ridiculous and you could not work out which, if any, were actually true. People said that since the war, there was a dark, underworld-type nature of most of his business that no one particularly wanted to talk about. He seemed to exude an aura of fear to the people of this city.

He apparently owned property in virtually every block, knew how to pay off the right people to get him what he needed and had a reputation of being able to… effectively deal with those who refused. The gossip all said that he dealt in the shadows, manipulating those small gangs in the criminal underworld to create the biggest empire the city had ever seen. Which, despite the mayor and elected officials, left Harrison Wells as the undisputed king of all of it.

But you couldn’t bring yourself to believe any of it. A man awarded such an honour during his service surely wouldn’t then come home to terrorize his own city. He was just another businessman, trying to make his way in a corporate world and people wanted to demonize him for his success.

Which brings you to the current hitch in your breath as the rumoured secret King of Central City lays a small bundle of bright blue flowers on your counter. His dark hair is messy, like he’s been running his hands through it, nothing like the styled pictures on the covers of magazines you’d seen. You notice his piercing blue eyes study you as you watch him. It’s hard not to be captivated by his handsome features but you force yourself to be professional again when he speaks.

“Hi there,” he says.

“H-hello,” you reply timidly. “Is this everything for you, today?”

“It is, thank you.” You ring in the bundle and tell him the cost. Harrison Wells slides a few bills across the flat surface to you, which you then place into the cash register. “Have a nice day...”

You offer your name at his hesitation and notice a slight tug in the upper corner of his mouth.

“(Y/N)... beautiful name.” You can’t hold back an uncontrollable, bright smile at his compliment.  _He doesn’t seem so scary._  Harrison Wells turns to leave, but without his purchase.

“Uh, Sir? You forgot your flowers.”

“I didn’t forget,” the man says with a wink, leaving the shop as the door jingles when he exits. You pick up the pretty blue bundle of flowers and finally process their name.

Forget-Me-Nots.

~

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

Much to your surprise, Harrison returns every day for the next week to Primrose Path, and every time he does, the butterflies in your stomach grow. He appears to like to come see you in the early afternoon, always dressed sharp, and chats you up while the store is quiet.

But the best part? The best part is when Harrison purchases a new kind of flower at the end of his visits, each time leaving it on the counter for you before he goes. Although, part of you worries what a man like him could be after with you, the other part can’t help but feel giddy every time you see him.

The front door jingles, and no surprise, it’s the ever dashing Harrison Wells, precisely on time. You happen to be tending to some potted plants in the middle of the store and you turn to welcome him. He greets you with one of his dreamy smiles.

“Hello!” you say, lively, “How are you today?”

His smile seems to brighten at your own happy mood as he comes a little further inside. "I'm very well, thank you," he says as he peruses the flowers. "All the better for seeing that smile," he adds with a little wink which makes you dip your head in embarrassment. He is most definitely flirting with you. Your heart skips a beat at that thought and you proceed to tend to the peonies and lilies that are carefully placed in the damp, but freshly-soiled pots. Fingers dancing over the fuchsia petals of the peonies, you start to water the compact flower with your watering pail in hopes of maybe distracting yourself from how elevated your heart seems to have gotten. Harrison saunters over to the table that you stand at, hands in shoved in his black pants pockets. He curiously watches you tend to your plants.

When you finish up with the peonies and lilies, you carry your amethyst-coloured pail and amble to another table on the other side of your shop to see if the camellias have started to bud or not. Harrison follows you.

"How's your day?" he starts, breaking the silence that had enveloped the shop, as you cascade water onto the flourishing ruby-red buds.

“Oh, it’s great... especially now.”

 _Did I really just say that?_ _I’m totally flirting back with this man!_

“I mean, now that, um, now that... I have you as an extra pair of hands! Would you mind terribly helping me carry these little guys over here?” Harrison smiles almost knowingly and quirks his eyebrow slightly but nods and assists you in moving the flowers across to the other side of the room to a set of shelves.

"They're wonderful," he says gently when you've re-homed them, his fingertips ghosting over the petals. "I’m not particularly knowledgeable when it comes to flowers, but you seem like you take good care of them."

"I do," you say merrily and accidentally meet his magnetic eyes. You have to look back to the blooming flowers that sit in front of you on the centre mahogany table.

Clearing your throat, you explain, "They're unique like people. Each has a certain preference and unique meaning. Kind of like how the people we meet hold a special meaning in our lives when we allow them in... especially if they manage to captivate the heart." You mumble the latter part more to yourself, turning your back to him and checking the shrubs that hang close to the glass-paned area of your shop.

"Yeah..." he trails off in a low voice. You’re unaware that he's staring at you until you subtly catch him doing so. You walk away from the shelves to the table in the middle of the room to rearrange a few more pots and some signage. Harrison follows you yet again, walking with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Do you have a favourite?”

“I mean, that’s like asking who’s your favourite child!” you exclaim.

"If you _had_ to choose?" he pushes, standing across the table from you, that cheeky smile on his face. You take a breath and look thoughtful for a second.

"Well, it's a little cliché, but I really do love roses," you say as you sort through some cute pots. "But lilies and sweet peas have always caught my attention too..." He nods his head, seeming truly invested in your interests.

“And have you always wanted to be a florist? You run a wonderful small business, here. Do you have to go to a sort of flower school to get to where you are?”

You giggle at his words, biting your lower lip. "No, I didn't always want to do this, but sometimes things happen for a reason, right?"

He looks thoughtful about that for a second, nodding again.

“I couldn’t agree more.” You and he share a brief look. You might feel a little lightheaded. But then, you stop and wonder… You turn back to what you’re doing in order to stop trying to look into his eyes.

“I'm sorry, but surely someone like you has more to be doing with his time than just talking to me…?” You’re so confused because he must be so busy, and yet he’s staying and making small talk with you, of all people.

“Well, ‘someone like me’ has the luxury of being able to dictate his own schedule, so I'd say I have plenty of time.”

“And you’re choosing to spend your time with little ol’ me?” you joke. “My, I must be very lucky.”

"I am most definitely the lucky one," he replies, which makes you glance up at him before you take a flustered little gasp and go back over to the counter because you're not sure how much more of this man's complimenting you can take without squealing out loud.

Sure enough, Harrison follows you there, too.

“I’d like to make an order, please,” he says. You pull out your notepad and pen, looking at him expectantly with a smile.

“What’ll it be?”

“A bundle of lilies, sweet peas, and a single rose.”

Your eyes go wide for a split second because he really had been listening to you...

You slowly scribble the order down (not that you really need to...) and look up at him again.

"And would you like to come and pick that up or is there somewhere I can send it?" you ask a little hesitantly, wondering if you have entirely the wrong idea here. _This is where he tells you it's for his girlfriend or wife and he was just seeking your expertise_.

“I’ll pick them up. It’ll be another excuse to drop by and see you.” Your hand goes to your warming cheek, embarrassed by his sweetness. _No, definitely not misreading this_...

“Oh, well then... um, how will you be pa-” Harrison slides some bills across the counter and his hand happens to brush yours.

 _Sparks_.

You notice the amount he has given you. “This is... this is far too much! Here-” you try to hand back the extra bills, but he pushes your hand back and folds your fingers over the notes by enclosing your hand in his. You're incapable of giving him back the money now and mostly because all of your thoughts have just flown out of your head due to the way his hand is touching yours.

“An investment,” he whispers. Pulling out a black calling card from his pocket, Harrison hands it to you. “This is for you to, you know, call me.”

“When your flowers are ready?”

“Sure, that too.” He makes his way to the door and gives a little wave and a wink, and when he finally leaves, you find yourself breathing again. The effect that man has on you is completely astounding. And you find yourself instantly putting together his order, just because you can't wait to see him again. You're so unhappy when you're set back by a day because you find you have to order new lilies in before you can finish it that you give yourself a mental talking to. Because he's only a _guy_ … But a very attractive guy who'd been flirting with you…

He gives you this feeling inside like you’re going to fly away up to the clouds. You might need to hold onto something.

You rub your thumb over the calling card, his name and number engraved in gold letters. You cannot wait to call this number.

So, after your delivery the next day, you diligently put your little arrangement together, filling it out a little with gypsophila and placing a single rose stem in the middle of the bunch. You finish it off by tying a white ribbon around the stems to match the flowers. You are sure it is some of your best work, though that may very well have had something to do with the customer…

Your fingers legitimately shake as you’re about to call Harrison. _This is ridiculous! There’s nothing to it!_ You call people every day to let them know about their orders. The other side rings once, twice, three times... _oh, my heart!_

“Wells, here.”

“H-hi, Harrison? It’s um, it’s (Y/N), calling about your order. It’s all ready for you to pick up.”

"(Y/N)... That was very efficient of you. It's only been two days..."

You can hear the smirk in his voice and can almost picture the way he's just raised his eyebrow. It takes you a second to remember that you have to say something back.

"Oh yeah... Yeah, well it hasn’t been terribly busy this week... there aren’t any weddings or big events to prepare for yet and things… I mean, I’m still just a new shop..." You're rambling now. Why are you rambling? You clear your throat, snapping yourself out of it.

“So anyway, whenever you’re ready to pick them up is fine. I close at six today.”

"Alright then. I'll see you later today."

"Okay," you reply quietly, unable to keep the smile out of your voice, "bye for now." You hang up and immediately let out a deep and longing sigh. Looking around the shop, you make sure there aren’t any customers around who could have heard that. Now you’ll be anticipating his arrival all day, probably jumping every time the bell on the door dings. More so than usual, anyway.

But you don’t have to wait too long as a little after lunchtime, the bell rings and Harrison walks in wearing a particularly nice suit which has your eyes raking up and down his body. You shake your head to clear the thoughts away as he approaches the counter.

“I believe I have an order to pick up?”

“Yes, you do, it’s right here.” You hand him the beautifully done up arrangement and Harrison makes a sound of admiration.

“You are a talent, you really are,” he says. You blush at his words, running your hand through your hair.

"Thank you," you reply, glancing at him and the way he's still admiring the flowers.

“I apologize for potentially sounding too forward, but would you like to join me for dinner after work?”

“No- I mean _no_ , you’re not being too forward. Because yes! I’d very much like to join you. _Yes._ ” You’re a mess. A total mess. And this guy still seems to like you? It’s some kind of miracle, really.

He smiles, a big, genuine one, at your enthusiasm and seeing that only makes you smile wider. If that were even possible.

"You said you close at six?" You nod quickly. "How about I pick you up at half past seven? To give you some time?"

"That sounds perfect," you reply.

“Perfect,” he echoes. “Meet here?” You nod in reply because if you open your mouth you’d squeal for sure.

“See you then.” You wiggle your fingers goodbye to him and Harrison waves back. As soon as he's gone you do a little twirl as you finally squeal to yourself. You have a date. An actual honest-to-God date with _Harrison Wells_ no less. You're smiling so much that you don't think you're going to be able to stop and at least five of your customers during the afternoon comment on your evident happiness.

Like your best customer, a little elderly lady. She had come in not long after Harrison left and commented on your extra sunny disposition.

“Someone’s looking chipper today!” she had said. “There’s someone special in life, isn’t there?” You didn’t want to give away too much so you just shrugged and smiled slyly.

“Maybe...”

You're practically buzzing by the time you're ready to leave for the evening and since it's so quiet towards the end of the day, you close up twenty minutes early so that you can go and get ready.

When you get back to your apartment, you fly towards your closet and try to choose which will be the best outfit to wear to make the best impression on Harrison. You must try on nearly half your clothes before you find something you’re happy with.

Finally settling on _the one_ \- a deep purple halter dress at mid-thigh length - you’re almost ready to meet him back at the shop. A few little touch ups here and there and _voilà_ _!_

You grab your purse and head out again, walking the few blocks back to your shop and by the time you reach it, it's seven-twenty. Time to spare.

You stand, looking at your phone for a few minutes and at seven-thirty on the dot, a fancy black car rolls up and Harrison gets out of the rear door and gives you a little wave. He’s dressed in this gorgeous black dress shirt, blazer, and trousers, fitting him like a dream. On top of all that, he dons a pair of smart looking glasses. You’re getting a little weak in the knees just taking him all in.

“Hi,” you say, smiling like a loon.

"Hi there," he replies, coming to stand in front of you. You're half proud, half bashful at the way he's looking you up and down as he approaches. "You look... breathtaking," he manages to get out as you tuck a strand of hair behind your ear and avert your gaze a little at the compliment.

“Thank you. And you look, I mean, _wow_.” You gesture with your hand to him. Harrison brings forth the bouquet arrangement of the flowers you did up for him earlier.

“Now, these look strangely familiar!”

He puts a hand out for you, which you take. “Shall we?” he asks with a grin, then helps you into the vehicle.

“So where are we going tonight?” you ask as you get comfortable in the back of the car.

“One of my favourite places, you’ll love it,” Harrison promises. A short ride later, you find yourselves outside one of Central City’s most expensive hotel’s restaurant and bar. Only no one else is in the place when you step through the entrance doors.

“Where is everyone?” you wonder aloud.

“I took the liberty of reserving the venue for the two of us tonight. Much quieter this way. No distractions.”

You knew Harrison had power, money, and connections in Central City, but it’s really only hitting you now. You can barely believe what he's done for you and tell him as much.

"Well, I thought it would be nice, just the two of us," he says, pulling out your chair for you as you sit down. "It reminds me of spending time in your shop."

He takes the seat opposite and gives you one of those gorgeous smiles.

“My shop isn’t anywhere near as fancy as this…” you say, motioning with your hand to the restaurant, still a little overwhelmed by this gesture.

"Yes, but this is so worth it. Anything is, really, if it means I get to see and spend some time with your delightful self," he answers, taking your hand and holding it as if you were made of delicate china. He watches you for any sign of uncomfortableness at his touch, but you just smile. “Are you hungry? We can get some food out here.”

“Starving,” you reply, as you remember you hadn’t eaten anything since lunchtime.

Harrison smiles, beckoning for one of the staff members to come over. A waiter immediately shuffles to your table and takes your orders, before heading to the kitchen and leaving you both time to chat freely. The mood in the room feels so comforting and serene, even if you did feel the occasional wave of excitable jitters. Harrison’s eyes flick to you a few times, a small grin gracing his features.

"What?" you ask, quirking an eyebrow at him and setting your glass of water down.

"I'm just so glad that you agreed to come out with me," he tells you with a bashful smile. "Not many people enjoy my company."

You give him a shy smile. "Well, I happen to find you incredibly charming and enjoy your company very much." You give his hand a light squeeze in reassurance.

You talk some more as a pianist starts to serenade you from the side of the room while you wait for your food to arrive.

"Care for a dance?" Harrison asks, raising an eyebrow at you, accompanied by an upward curve of his lips.

You chew on the inside of your cheek at his suggestion. "Oh, I don't know, I don't think I can dance..." you use as an excuse with a sheepish smile, waving the idea off a bit. You really don't want to embarrass yourself in front of him, especially when you think he might actually be into you. First date and you two seem to hit it off. Making a fool of yourself is the last thing on your to-do list this evening.

"Then I'll teach you." He takes your right hand in his larger one, feeling an instant warmth, and escorts you out of your chair and onto the empty floor.

He brings you close, his hand going to gently rest on your waist as you place yours on his arm.

"There's nothing to it, you just follow my lead, okay?" he says, a glint in his eye. You nod and he takes a small step forward, so you mirror and take one back. He counts the beat for you and soon you're slowly waltzing around the floor in time to the music. At one point you stumble, but Harrison catches you, helping you regain your balance as you laugh nervously. You ease into the sway of the dance, gazing up at him.

"See? You're getting the hang of it," Harrison says with a small, proud grin.

"Even though I stumbled a bit," you reply diffidently.

"Well, in my own experiences, you have to stumble and struggle to succeed, especially in life."

"Wise words," you reply slowly. You're completely enraptured by his blue eyes for a few seconds and you're both only broken away from each other's gaze by the waiter addressing you to inform you both that the food was ready.

You tear yourself away from his eyes as he leads you back to your table as the plates are placed in front of you.

“Now, I hope you don’t mind me asking,” you start, trying to figure out how to pose your forthcoming question.

“I’m sure I won’t.”

“How old _are_ you, exactly?”

Of course, when he tells you, a little sound of amusement escapes you. Harrison tilts his head.

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s just that I’ve never heard someone lie about being older than they are before! There’s no way.”

At that remark, your age-defying date pulls out his wallet and opens it to show you his driver’s licence. _He wasn’t lying…_

“I am so sorry,” you apologize, “You- you don’t look your age. Like, _at_ _all_.”

“It’s fine,” he replies graciously. Harry takes a sip of his water as you continue to blather on.

“Honestly, how are you still single?” you ask, which sends Harrison into a coughing fit, evidently catching him off guard mid-drink.

“You ask quite the questions,” he notes, once he regains his breath. “I suppose… I just haven’t really _connected_ with anyone. Not in a very long time, that is. And work does tend to get in the way of pursuing a relationship.”

You consider this thoughtfully as you both start your delicious meals and you start up the conversation again.

"So, speaking of work, you know all about mine, but what about you and S.T.A.R. Labs? That must be exciting."

"You don't know the half of it," he says with a smile that says he knows something you don't, but you let it slide. "It's good work, we have a lot going on. I’m not sure if you know this, but I’m a scientist."

“I’ve heard things.”

“All good, I hope.”

You simply take a sip of your own drink in response.

You finish your delectable meal, having snuck many secret glances at each other the entire time, and when you finally had locked gazes, you had noticed a strange twinkle evident in his eyes.

By the end of the evening, you're content and utterly smitten with Harrison. There’s no denying it. From the way he had looked at you from across the table, to how he carried on the conversation comfortably and asked you almost everything there was to learn about you. The light teasing and entertaining stories that you two engaged in and even the way he held you during your dance made your world stand still. It was as if the universe had brought you two together - puzzle pieces completing each other.

He takes your hand and leads you outside to his car, opening the door for you.

"After you, my lady," he says with a wink and a kind grin on his face.

"Why thank you, kind sir," you say as you do a little curtsy before stepping into the car. He walks around to his side and takes the spot beside you on the leather seats, your hands gingerly finding each other's and fingers automatically lacing together as the driver started driving away from the lavish restaurant.

"Will you let me take you home? I wouldn't feel right leaving you at the shop to walk and it’d be awfully rude of me to do so," Harrison says.

"Oh yeah," you reply, suddenly remembering that he doesn't know where your apartment is. You give the address and Harrison signals to the driver to follow your instructions, giving you a smile from beside you.

The car ride is enveloped in tranquil silence. You repeatedly tuck a stray strand of hair behind your ear, unable to stop the heat from spreading on your cheeks and how your stomach will not cease doing back-flips because this date, this evening together, and Harrison _alone_ … It just seems too good to be true.

The dark-haired CEO gives your hand a slight squeeze, which shifts your attention from the outside nightlife cast through the window back to him. He gives you an adoring look.

You’re so enchanted by Harrison beside you, you don’t even realize when the car eventually pulls up to your apartment. Your date exits the vehicle and helps you out, walks you to your door with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

“I had such a great time,” you tell him shyly.

"So did I," he agrees, "I hope we can do it again...?"

You can tell by his expression that he feels like he's hedging his bets but you don't even hesitate.

"I'd love to, I really would." You give him another beaming smile and see his brighten too.

"I'll stop by the shop again soon, then?" For a man who seems to exude confidence, he strikes you as really unsure of himself right now.

"I can't wait," you tell him. You both stand awkwardly in front of each other, unsure of what to do or say next.

"Um..." you say quietly, more to yourself than him.

"Hm?"

You chew on your bottom lip. Gathering up enough courage, you lean up to the towering man and peck the corner of his mouth. Your face feels hot and tingly. Before Harrison can respond, or even _think_ of responding, you break away and hurriedly head inside your home, your precious flower bundle in tow, having an almost-meltdown when you close the door.

Emphasis on _melt_.

You peek through the peephole to see Harrison standing there frozen, his own face growing light pink. He starts to rub his mouth with his hand and trying to keep his smile hidden from no one in particular.

You turn and rest against the door and your heart feels like it's going to beat right out of your chest because that man is everything you could possibly dream of and more. You’re finding it hard to believe he could be caught up in anything remotely sketchy. Sure, he’s a little tight-lipped about the specifics of his work, but what big-time company man isn’t? He’s nothing but a perfect man in your eyes and you honestly can't wait for him to come back to the shop so that you can see him again.


	3. Chapter 3

 

You spin on your heels when you hear the door open. After your incredible date the night before, you expect Harrison to stride through the door, dressed in another one of those slick suits of his you love so much. However, you’re disappointed to find one of his bodyguards enter in his place.

“Good afternoon!” you greet him as you would any customer, “What can I do for you today?”

“Doctor Wells sends his apologies, ma’am,” says the man. “He is unfortunately too busy to make it in today.”

“Oh…” you say, unable to keep the disappointment from showing up in your expression and voice.

“But he sends his regards,” the large man adds, handing you a red carnation - _admiration_ \- and a neatly folded note.

 

(Y/N),

I’m very sorry to say that I will be unable

to attend our daily rendezvous today as

I must oversee an important business

matter. Regardless, I will still be thinking

of you…

x H.W.

 

You smile at his words and run your thumb over his initials at the bottom before suddenly remembering that the man is still standing there.

“One second,” you say, pulling your notepad from the pocket of your apron and beginning to pen your own little note.

You tell Harrison that it’s okay that he couldn’t make it, you know he’s very busy, and you truly enjoyed the previous evening and wanted nothing more than to do it again. You try to keep the urgency to see him again out of your tone because the last thing you want to appear is desperate. You finish it off by giving him your own phone number, as you had rung him on the phone in the shop the last time, and tell him to call you.

You bite your lip lightly as you look around to find something to give him in return for the flower. You instantly spot the roses off to one side and smile as you take one with an unopened bud from the bucket and cut the stem to only a couple of inches. You then turn back to the man in front of you, who had been patiently waiting for you to finish what you were doing.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name,” you say.

“It’s Matthew, ma’am.”

“Well, Matthew, I know you probably have more important things to be doing than passing on notes, but would you possibly give these to Harrison for me?”

You hold out the folded paper and the rosebud while smiling hopefully. The man returns it with his own small smile, taking the items from you.

“Of course, ma’am,” he replies before turning to leave. “Have a good day.”

“You too,” you say as he exits the shop.

 

***

 

True to his word, Matthew delivers your note and flower to Harry as soon as his schedule of back to back meetings with the Board of Directors and then investing companies is over. As well as an unscheduled talk with some of his men over an entirely different kind of business...

Harry is sitting at his desk when Matthew knocks, and the CEO asks him a few questions about how you reacted, trying not to seem too eager, not that Matthew would ever pass judgement. But the thing is that he _is_ eager. He had never been one to ‘play the field’, preferring instead to stick to committed relationships with genuine emotions, but women he had dated previously had never felt the same and he hadn’t been on a second date in longer than he cares to think about.

"She seemed happy, Boss," Matthew explains. "She smiled and everything. You've landed a sweet one, Sir."

He promptly sends the other man away so he can read your note in private, all the while twirling the stem of the sweet rosebud between his thumb and forefinger. His heart flutters at your words. 'Please call me' written at the bottom with your number.

Maybe he isn’t the only one feeling eager.

He keeps the note on his desk until late in the afternoon, contemplating whether he should call you now or later when he gets home. He doesn’t want to bother you, especially when you were working. But surely you're not too busy at this point in the day…

Not being able to contain himself, he dials your number and waits as the line rings a couple times.

"Hello?" Your voice is enough to make him smile widely when you pick up.

"Hi, (Y/N), it's Harrison," he says, "is this a bad time?"

"Harrison," you reply and he can almost hear the smile in your voice. "No, it's not a bad time at all! But I thought you were busy yourself."

"I was earlier, yes; a series of meetings this morning, I’m afraid, which has pushed the rest of my schedule back… but I always want to be able to make time for you, even if it can’t be in person," Harry says smoothly, reclining back a bit in his chair. His paperwork can wait.

"I just called because..." he runs a hand through his dark hair, "I miss hearing your voice."

He hears you chuckle down the phone. "That's so sweet... I missed talking to you too."

He smiles at your answer before building his courage enough to ask you the biggest question on his mind. "Um, so I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me again?”

“Of course!” comes your reply and he feels himself relax significantly.

“What about tomorrow night? We could go for a walk out by the lake, maybe? I can understand if you think it’s too soon and I don't want to rush anything, but-"

Your answer comes without the slightest hint of hesitation. "That would be wonderful. Shall we say seven?"

"I'd like that," he says. God, you make his heart race so much. He says something funny just to hear you laugh in that way you do and Harry puts a hand on his face, smile widening at how cute you sound.

"I'll pick you up by myself this time, okay?"

"Alright, outside my place at seven it is then," you confirm, clearly still grinning from the way you sound. "I'll see you tomorrow and have a lovely rest of your day, Harrison."

"You too, (Y/N)," he says, "I'll be thinking of you."

He can picture you nibbling on your bottom lip in perfect detail. "I will too. Goodbye, Harrison."

"Goodbye," he says before ending the call. Harrison is sure to save your number in his contacts and attempts to go back to his work, but the image of your radiant smile or the sound of your contagious laughter keeps swimming to the forefront of his mind. Although it does mean he's smiling throughout all the remaining time he spends at the company that day, which makes a change from usual, and simultaneously puts his men at ease and weirds them out.

Again, he runs a hand through his dark hair, getting up and walking to the window-view of the city. He thinks that it'd be best if the Inner Circle watch over you and him while you're both out on the walk so that he can take his time with you without them physically being there. He doesn't want you to feel anxious about the prospect of his men around, visibly surveying the area for threats. Instead, the core team should be able to keep tabs on you both from the Cortex.

 

***

 

The entirety of the next evening, you have the tendency to peek out your window down onto the street watching for him to show up. By the time seven o’clock arrives, Harrison is punctual yet again for your date, this time driving his own vehicle. You run your hands down the fabric of your floral, pink and cream coloured day dress and step outside of your front door as he approaches, locking it behind you. Harrison meets you at the end of the path with a smile and takes your hand, placing a kiss to the back of it.

"You look wonderful, as always," he says as you take his arm and he leads you to the car. He’s wearing the rose you had given him in his top pocket and this small display sends your heart soaring.

"Thank you," you say, brushing your hair to the side, before giving him a small sly smile. "And you look handsome, _as always_."

He chuckles at your compliment and opens the passenger door for you, allowing you in first before he heads to the driver’s seat. Throughout the car ride, you both make small talk before slowly falling into a comfortable silence. You look out the window and when you feel his hand take your own, you won’t lie - it startles you at first. You look down at your intertwined fingers, then up to meet his eyes for a moment. The upper corner of Harrison’s lip tugs up and seeing this makes you turn to look out the window again to avoid the piercing way he looks at you. He makes you feel so much, it’s unreal.

You soon arrive at the park, where the light of the moon glitters on the water of the lake beyond. Harrison parks up and gets out, coming round to open the door for you and helping you out. This man is sincerely such a gentleman - you've never met someone like him before.

The pair of you walk around the lake for a bit, enjoying each other's presence in the balmy air.

“So then my car broke down in the middle of nowhere!” you recount one of the unluckiest days of your life.

“No!”

“Yes! And then my skirt tore as I had tried to change the tire. That was a pointless feat, to say the least.”

Harrison laughs, but it’s the way he does it that makes you briefly wonder how long it’s been since he laughed like this.

He checks his watch, trying to be discrete, though you notice this on top of the wheels turning in his head.

“Harrison? What’s the matter?”

“Not a single thing,” he insists. “I’m just so glad you’re here with me.”

"Where else would I be?" you ask, amused, as you travel through the park, "There's something about you, Harrison, that makes me feel like this is where I’m supposed to be."

“I feel the same way. And please, I’d like you to call me Harry.”

"Harry..." You test it on your tongue, "that's cute..."

He gives a pleasant hum when you smile up at him. The moonlight falls on you both as you walk towards the lake, your fingers intertwined and butterflies in your stomach. You come to a stop and find yourself really hoping he kisses you right now. The moment is so perfect.

It’s like an unknown force is pulling you both to stand close, right in front of each other, looking up at his twinkling eyes.

“I’ve never met a man like you before,” you say, your faces slowly inching closer together. There’s something about this comment that makes him give a small, low laugh which in turn causes you to shiver. You’re hyper-aware of his hand now resting on the small of your back as it pushes you even closer to him. Your lips are barely touching...

“No, I’m sure you haven’t.”

He immediately closes the slight gap, free hand going to cup your cheek as his lips move delicately and hesitantly over yours, his touch leaving you utterly breathless. Your leg even kicks up as if on its own.

As Harry pulls away to gaze at you, he runs his thumb gently over your lips and smiles at the blissful expression on your face.

“I hope I’ll have the honour to do that again... on our next date?” he says.

"Hmm, I'll have to think about it... but I reckon you'll probably get lucky," you say teasingly with a smirk, taking his arm as you begin to walk back over to the car.

Although as you do, the wind picks up a little and you find yourself shivering in your short-sleeved dress. Harry seems to notice and immediately pauses and shrugs his jacket off before draping it over your shoulders despite your attempts at a protest. The scent of his cologne envelops you and you think you shiver a little more, but not because of the cold. You give him an appreciative smile and he mirrors it.

You tug on the jacket a little and when you look up, you spot something off in the distance. _Was that a flash?_ A figure stands behind a tree far down the path.

“Harry, I think someone is taking pictures of us…” you say apprehensively. His hand goes to your back to guide you in the direction back to the car.

“Come on, let’s get you home.”

As for the ride back to your place, you soon forget about the stranger photographing you and have your chilly fingers connected with Harry’s the entire way there. When the car arrives at your place, you look up at him and let out a barely audible sigh.

"This is me," you say quietly, but you really don't want to let go of his hand. And it’s clear he doesn’t want to let go either, but he gets out first to help you out and walks you to your front door just like last time. Though you find your key in your pocket, you don’t want to take it out to unlock your door just yet because that would mean saying goodbye to Harry.

And you dread saying goodbye to this man.

You carefully take off his jacket, which is still around you, handing it back to him as you stand in front of him. You bite your lip as you place your free hand on his chest and lean up to kiss him again. It's not as long as previously but leaves your head spinning just as much.

"...I couldn't wait until next time," you say as you part, his forehead against yours. Harry grins like he’s on top of the world.

“See you tomorrow?” he checks. It’s the best part of your day when he shows up in your shop to buy a single flower for you.

“I look forward to it. Every day.”

Despite the fact that you'll be seeing him tomorrow, you spend the rest of the evening texting each other almost continuously. He seems to like to tease you through these texts, and truthfully, you enjoy it. At one point, you gather up every ounce of courage in you to ask your burning question.

 

_Can I ask you something?_

 

You just did.

 

_I realize that, but that wasn't it._

 

Go on, then.

 

_Are you seeing any other women currently?_

_Because if you are, I think I would very_

_much like to know what I’m getting into at_

_this point in the game..._

 

You are the only woman I see.

 

 _Oh…_ You can’t help but do a little dance alone in the apartment. There’s something about Harrison Wells that makes you feel like a crushing school girl again. After a little while longer of flirty texts, you tell him you're going to bed, and he sends one last message:

 

Goodnight and sweet dreams, my Flower.

 

You snuggle into the bedsheets and begin to fall asleep with a content smile on your face, thinking of Harry’s own heart-stopping smile and the fact that you’ll see him again tomorrow. You are so happy with everything right now, you can’t imagine anything more perfect.


	4. Chapter 4

 

Smile still a permanent feature on your face, you head out from your apartment the next morning, your mind filled with a mixture of thoughts, ranging from flowers to the ever-present Harrison. No one had been able to make you this happy in a long time, you think as you approach Primrose Path, maybe _ever_.

You stick the key in the lock to unlock your shop door just as a voice calls out to you.

“Hey, Miss, paper for you,” a young man addresses you, reaching into his bag and pulling out a copy of _Central City Picture News._ “Oh, yours is a familiar face,” he says, eyebrows going up in surprise when you properly turn to face him in order to take the paper.

“Have we met?” you ask in confusion, as the man holds out your newspaper, front page up so that you can see the main article. What you see makes you gasp, your eyes wide as it scans every inch of the paper.

“Nah, I’ve been handing out these all morning - that’s you, right?”

You don’t stop staring at the page in front of you even as you open your door and make your way inside the shop, laying it down on the counter so that you can properly read it.

The headline, bold and striking reads:

_GENIUS CEO SPOTTED WITH MYSTERY WOMAN ON ROMANTIC RENDEZVOUS_

The title is accompanied by several pictures from last night, the largest one of you walking hand in hand with Harry after he’d given you his jacket, just before you’d spotted this photographer.

Admittedly, it was a gorgeous shot; you and Harry both looking at each other affectionately, a delicate feeling of intimacy with it, but you feel you could have appreciated it more if it wasn’t on the breakfast table of everyone in the city right now.

You hastily scan the other, smaller images. One of the pair of you laughing by the lake and another of the kiss. Your romantic kiss with this incredible man wasn’t the private affair you’d thought.

Resting your elbows on the countertop, you begin reading the article which details Harry’s pretty much non-existent love life before you, thoughts on who you could be and how long you’d been together.

But before you can get too far through it, your phone buzzes multiple times in quick succession in your pocket and you pull it out, seeing an increasing collection of frantic texts from Harry.

 

(Y/N), please tell me you haven’t seen CCPN.

  


I should have realized this would happen

when you mentioned the photographer.

  


I’m sorry this is happening.

  


Are you at the shop yet?

  


Screw it, I’m coming over.

 

You barely have enough time to type out a response and don’t even hit send, before the door to the shop bursts open, revealing an agitated looking Harry.

“Stay here!” he shouts over his shoulder, in a very different tone to what he uses around you, and you peer out of the window and see Matthew and two other guys stop in their tracks, blocking the shop door. Harry flicks the latch on the door before striding over to you.

“Is this what happens when you get your picture in the paper? A sudden entourage?” you joke as he reaches you. You watch as he peers down at the tabloid in front of you, sucking in a deep breath.

“I kind of hoped you wouldn’t have seen it yet…” he murmurs, running a hand over his face. “I didn’t want you to freak out without me having spoken to you.”

“Hey,” you say, coming around from your side of the table and standing in front of him, resting your hand over his that rests on the tabletop. “Not freaking out, okay? Look, I’m fine.”

You watch his eyes roam over every inch of your face to confirm this.

“I probably should have figured it was only a matter of time, you being who you are and everything…”

“I just didn’t want you to have to deal with this… _invasion_ of privacy. This was meant to be safe for you… They’ve paid me very little mind since...” He clears his throat. “I didn’t think my love life would be of that much interest, let alone front page news.”

“We obviously picked a slow news day,” you reason, with a resigned smile. “But if you think that this is going to scare me enough to not want to keep seeing you, then you are very mistaken.”

“I’m very glad to hear it,” Harry replies, running a hand through your hair. “Then, if you can deal with more attention, would you like to do coffee after work on Monday, maybe? I’d do tonight, but I have business to do in Star City over the weekend and I have to leave soon.”

“Monday is _fine_ , Harry, and I have a feeling I would be willing to go through much worse for you than a few stares. I’d feel great going out in public with you, if you are with me.”

“And have the chance to show the world I get to spend time with the most amazing woman I’ve ever met? Absolutely.”

You grin and lean up on your toes to peck his lips. “Always the charmer.”

“Well, I do try.”

Your smile widens against him as his hand settles on the back of your neck to pull you closer as he brushes your lips with his. It amazes you how he can always be so gentle with you.

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” he whispers when you pull away. “I’ll come back at closing on Monday then?”

“See you then. Have a good trip.” You smile, reluctantly removing your hand from where it had been resting on his hip as you kissed.

He walks back over to the door, unlocking it and giving you an adoring smile as he leaves. You hear him tell his guys to follow him back to S.T.A.R Labs as you start getting the shop ready for the day.

You fold the newspaper up and throw it in the trash.

You can remember the whole night without any kind of reminder at all.

* * *

With Harry away, you spend the weekend catching up with some orders in the shop, but also getting a little retail therapy in. You browse various stores, all the while thinking about what Harry might like on you, and you end up purchasing a few items that you think might be good for future dates.

And, of course, the whole weekend is filled with texts from Harry, checking on you and seeing what you’re filling your days with. You have found that when you try to ask him what he’s doing in return, he’ll find a way to dodge the question. Clearly, he’s still holding his cards close to his chest when it comes to his work but you don’t press too hard. You’re sure you’ll learn things about that side of his life eventually.

When Monday rolls around, you have a smile on your face all day, just wishing it to be closing time already. You feel like your eyes never leave the clock as the hours of the work day tick by and when it reaches five, you’re fidgeting like crazy.

At around quarter to six, Harry arrives and although you just want to throw your arms around his neck and kiss him, you have to settle for sending him a huge grin and telling him that he'll have to wait a little while longer for the last remaining customers to finish their shopping.

He leans casually on the counter, as do you. You both are staring sickeningly cute into each other’s eyes. With only a couple minutes to closing time, there’s only one other customer left browsing the shop.

“Still up for a grabbing a cup of coffee after you’re done?” Harry asks.

“I’m always up for anything as long as it’s with you,” you reply. _Oh God, why did I say it like that?_

“Well then, I’ll keep that in mind.” Harry winks at you and you can’t help but think he’s imagining wicked scenarios involving you both. He sees your eyes go wide at his suggestive reply and he leans in to give you a chaste kiss.

A throat clears from behind. The lingering customer holds a potted plant they’d like to purchase.

“Apologies,” Harry says to the woman, who then gives him a wary look. He steps to the side to let you ring in her purchase.

“Thanks and come again!” you say cheerily after the transaction. The woman just gives a flat-lipped smile and leaves with her plant, but not before frowning at Harry.

“What was that-?”

“-It’s six,” he notes. “Closing time.”

“Oh. Yes, you’re right! Just give me one minute.” You flip the sign so it reads _Closed_ , and lock up. Grabbing your belongings and turning off the lights for the night, you exit the shop with Harry on your arm.

The walk to Jitters isn’t that far, but it feels longer than usual somehow with all the unusual looks you get on the way there. It’s like the strangers’ eyes are glued to you both, and it isn’t in the way that you thought it might be, due to the article the other day. No, they flick from Harry to you and widen with… worry? Some people walk faster past you after catching a glimpse of man you’re walking with while others see him coming and cross the street to avoid him.

 _Odd_.

Once at Jitters, Harry orders your drinks while you pick out seats in the lounge chairs by the entrance doors. When Harry returns, he kisses your cheek and hands you your mug of piping hot coffee. _Mmm…_ Taking a sip of your heavenly caffeinated drink, you instantly relax. This is just what you needed.

“Rough day?” Harry asks. “No one’s been giving you any trouble regarding the article, have they?”

“No, no,” you assure him, with a dismissive hand gesture, “it just dragged on. Plus, I don’t think it helped I was counting the hours until you showed up.”

“You know it’s difficult for me not to hang around your shop all day?”

“If we keep it up, we’ll both get nothing done!” You laugh, which was probably louder than it should be in a public setting. Checking to make sure no one was bothered by your mirth, you can’t help but notice something while looking around the room.

_Seriously, why do people keep staring at us?_

_Why are they looking at me with disgust?_

_And why do they look afraid?_

Surely everyone in the city didn’t _really_ believe the rumours surrounding the man in front of you. Or did they?

Harry’s phone rings in his pocket, shaking you from your thoughts. He does a quick check, but ends up taking his phone out and directs an apologetic smile at you.

“I’m so sorry, Flower, it’s, uh... work. I need to-”

“You’re an important man, Harrison. I get it, it’s fine.”

“Harry,” he reminds you.

“Yes, right. Go, Harry.” Your boyfriend (something you still weren’t used to saying but you think you’d mutually agreed you’d reached this stage now) takes his phone call outside. He stays in your view outside the front window, giving you a small wave to let you know he hasn’t gone too far from you. _He’s so amazing..._ You smile to yourself.

A stranger walks up to you, a man, just as Harry turns his back to the window.

“You best stay away from him,” the man warns.

“Wha- Excuse me?”

The man just gives you look. “You _do_ know who that is, don't you?”

Your eyes dart away in confusion, automatically finding Harry outside the shop. Of course you know who he is and you tell the man as much.

“He's bad news, for the city and for someone like you.”

You’ve just about had enough of this man. Who is he to say anything about your blossoming relationship with Harry? He doesn't know anything about either of you, though he certainly seems to think he does.

“Thanks, but I think I’ll carry on judging him for myself,” you reply curtly.

The man takes a deep, resigned breath before speaking again. “Alright, but it's your funeral… maybe literally.”

Your eyes widen at his comment and you watch as he walks out of the store, eyeing Harry with a glare as they cross paths.

Harry must notice your expression as he returns because he's quick to put his hand over yours and catch your gaze.

“Flower? Is everything okay?” His eyes hold such concern but you don't want to worry him with what just happened.

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” you reply with a smile, turning your hand over so that you can hold his properly over the table. “You’re here with me, aren’t you?”

“No place I’d rather be.”

* * *

Harry continues to come in every day the week following your little coffee date and carries on with his tradition of spoiling you with lavish flowers. Each day, you'll be in your shop, working on your arrangements and orders but always with one eye on the door, just waiting for him to arrive.

And as soon as you see his car pull up outside on one of those days, a brilliant smile works its way onto your face. He gives you one of his own when he spots you behind the counter as he opens the door, the little bell tinkling with the movement.

“Good morning, Sir,” you say, smiling knowingly at him, “what can I get for you today?”

“Good morning, sweet thing,” he replies as he begins browsing the large baskets of flowers. “Hmm… I think I'll have…”

He moves further down to the bouquets that you’d made up before coming to a stop at a bunch of a dozen red roses, tied neatly with a golden ribbon around the stems.

Harry grins at you, taking the bouquet from its spot and brings it over to the counter, holding the stems out for you. He only ever buys you single stems or tiny bundles, so this bouquet is excessive for him.

"Harry, what's all this?" You gingerly take the roses from him and give him a confused look. A look that he finds so irresistibly innocent and adorable.

"I thought I’d have to up my game now that we’re romantic companions.”

 _‘Romantic companions’?_ You almost squeal at how dorky-cute your boyfriend is being, but you can’t help but think there would be plenty of other more sophisticated and intelligent women better fitted for him.

“Sometimes I don’t believe you’re real and that you’re still interested in plain old me.”

"You’re anything but _plain_. You're smart, funny and completely breathtaking with a heart of gold... Why on earth wouldn't I be interested?" he says, gently reaching forwards and stroking his thumb over your cheek. “How would you like to go out on a fourth date with me?” Your cheeks flush at this and you look back at him.

"What would a fourth date consist of?"

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could, you know..." Harry's now rubbing the back of his neck, a nervous habit of his that you’ve noticed since meeting him. "Maybe you’d like to come to my house for a small dinner and watch a film? I mean, I completely understand if you decline. That’s kind of dull. You know what, I can plan something else."

At this point, you're just giggling at his endearing rambling. You’re practically _beaming_ at him and that alone should tell him your answer.

“No, that sounds perfect, Harry, I’d love to!”

“Great. Fantastic. Just wonderful,” he says with a clap of his hands. You can see on his face he’s thrilled. “I’ll have a car pick you up tomorrow evening.”

You nod and he hesitantly leans forwards and pecks your cheek, dropping a bill onto the counter that is _way_ too large for what he’s just bought for you, but he’s turned and left the shop before you can call him out on it. You’re left standing there holding your newest bouquet, smiling ridiculously big and feeling like you were on cloud nine.

By the time the date rolls around the corner, you are antsy as hell. You figure you’d dress casually for tonight, seeing as you’re only going to his house for a dinner/movie date. His car arrives at around six and the destination it takes you to, honest to God, makes you gasp and cover your mouth in shock.

His house - no, his _mansion -_ is one of the most amazing places you've ever laid eyes on. A huge sloping driveway leading to a spectacularly grand house that looks as though it could stretch back for miles. You look up with wide eyes as you get out of the car and head to the front door where Harry is already standing waiting for you.

"I almost feel underdressed, now," you say as you approach him in your jeans, light grey t-shirt and plaid ensemble, "your house is incredible."

"You look perfectly gorgeous and thank you. Shall we?" He gives you his hand, which you take without hesitation. Your tiny hand in his large, callous one. His electric gaze pins you to the ground before he leads you into his lavish home, a small smile on his face. The entire place is astonishing.

He laughs quietly to himself as he watches your awestruck face.

“Maybe I’ll give you a tour later if you’d like,” he says, “but first, dinner awaits us.” Harry leads you by the hand to the grand dining table, decorated so meticulously and already set with food, and pulls your chair out for you. Ever the gentleman…

As it turns out, Harry had cooked up a tasty meal for the night.

"I didn't know you could cook," you start.

"There are a lot of things I can do, you just have to stick around and find out," he responds, raising an eyebrow playfully at you, while giving you his signature smirk. Your cheeks redden a bit at him, looking down at your plate. Would he ever _not_ make you feel this way?

And as for the food, it’s the most exquisite meal you’ve ever had! Of course you tell him as much many times over.

After a dinner full great conversation, you both move into his living room - more like _home theatre_ \- to watch a movie together. Initially, you’re sitting a comfortable distance apart from one another on the couch, but as the film progresses, you find yourself eventually leaning against his shoulder, then finally almost completely lying in his lap. Harry runs his hands through your hair. It’s so nice… You slowly close your eyes at the feel of his hands like he’s gently petting you like a kitten. You’re able to sense his eyes on you during the movie, but you pretend not to notice.

"So cute," he whispers to himself.

“Hmm?”

“Oh nothing, Flower.”

“Are you still watching?

“I must admit, no, I’m not.”

“Me neither...” You look up at him in this dim light, him down at you with twinkling eyes. Shifting a little against him, you press a hand to his chest and sit up to kiss him.

The kiss is soft and slow, the two of you just enjoying the moment you're having right now and soon both of you long forget about the movie and its plot. His hands wrap around your waist, gently pulling you close to him as you rest your hands on his toned chest through his shirt. You can feel his heartbeat under your palms. It’s fast and strong.

Leaning in again, you kiss him with a little more meaning. When his tongue brushes your bottom lip, you’re quick to let him in and make a little noise when it starts to explore your mouth. Your hands continue to feel up every inch of his chest then eventually find their way up to his hair where you let them roam through his curls. It seems your body has a mind of its own as you move against his as if you crave something so much more. Never before has a man made you feel quite like this. Which brings up a topic to the forefront of your brain that you know you should discuss with him. But your body has other plans right now.

“Mmm, Harry,” you say in between moments of catching your breath. When you both pull away he presses his forehead against yours, grinning at you and how you’re reacting to his touch. His smile is the perfect representation of how you’re feeling. A mirror image.

“You are... so wonderful,” he says. Harry better be careful - you don’t know how much more of his bewitching compliments you can take before your heart explodes from happiness. But then-

“Eeeeee!” you squeal. His fiendish fingers have found a patch of your skin where your shirt had been riding up from this make-out session with him to tickle you. “Whatdoyouthinkyou’redoing?!”

He wiggles his fingers at you.

"Someone's a bit ticklish, aren't they?"

"No..." But you bolt off his lap and run to hide somewhere in this mansion yelling, "You'll never take me alive!"

The first place you hide is in the kitchen, hoping he went to check the rooms first. You try to stifle your gleeful sounds.

Just when you think you’re safe, Harry sneaks up behind you, entering from the other room, and wraps a strong arm around your middle. You scream playfully, which turns immediately into more squeals.

“You can run, but you can’t hide,” he teases, tapping his fingers on your skin, about to tickle you again.

“Please, Harry. Don’t do it! I’ll do anything!” Here you are, pretending to be begging for your life. What a thrill.

"Anything?" He turns you in his arms, blue eyes twinkling in the light.

"Maybe..." you respond with a grin.

"Well, in that case." A mischievous smile makes its way to his face. His hands attack your sides until you're in hysterics in his arms. Harry starts laughing at your reaction, at the happiness radiating from you.

You don’t think your legs can hold you up anymore. Harry catches your stumble and gracefully falls with you to the floor. You lie back on the cool tiles and Harry does the same, trying to collect yourselves. Once you’ve calmed down you turn your head to the side to see him, only to find Harry already watching you.

"What's with that smile?" you ask with a slight eyebrow raise.

"It’s for you," he answers simply, taking your hand and holding it in his large one.

"You're a bad man, Harrison Wells," you say, leaning over to peck his nose, "And you're the only one that my heart's set on."


	5. Chapter 5

 

You see Harry every day in your shop for another week after your first visit to his house since you’d both been inundated with work and were too caught up with everything to go on another proper date. But towards the end of the week, he invites you round to his place again, telling you he wants to spend some more time with you outside of both of your busy schedules and also mentions that he has something he wants to show you.

When you arrive, he is already waiting for you at the front door. You’re feeling fidgety and you think you can pinpoint as to why…

You have to tell him.  _ It’s the fifth date for goodness sake! _

This was bound to come up sooner or later, the topic of your inexperience, and frankly you’re surprised he hasn’t brought up the idea of sex with you once since you’ve been seeing each other.

"Hey, Harry," you say, walking up to him with a happy smile to mask your worry, and kiss his lips.

"Hey, how's my little Flower?" he asks with a grin, icy blues giving you their full attention.  _ Oh, he looks positivity adorable when he grins like that. _ And only for you.

"I'm good." You nudge his arm and raise a curious eyebrow. "Now, what did you want to show me?"

"Come with me," he says, his expression not giving anything away as he takes your hand and leads you through the rooms in his cavernous home. You weren't that far off in your assumption that it went back for miles but you did eventually come to the rear of the house where huge glass doors looked out onto a beautiful and impressive display of plant life.

"Is this... your  _ garden _ ?" Your mouth falls open at the beauty in front of you. Lilies, peonies, sunflowers... there’s so much variety, truly, it has you floored. Even a rose bush gracing the scene every so often. A gorgeous fountain structure in the middle of the garden accents the flowery view.

"Do you like it?" Harry asks hopefully, rubbing the back of his neck. You look up at him with a twinkle in your eyes. A huge grin breaks out across your awestruck face.

"I love it, Harry, it's so beautiful."

"Like the woman in front of me," he mumbles, but you hear him. He takes both of your hands into his own. He leads you outside, taking you over to the other side of the fountain where there’s a picnic set up on a blanket under the glowing light of the sunset. You didn't know if your smile could possibly get any bigger at this point… It’s so big that your cheeks are starting to hurt!

You sit and eat, joking together and telling little stories about your past. You are soon leaned into Harry's side, head on his shoulder and his arm around you, his fingers lightly brushing over your arm. The stars now litter the sky above you two, a beautiful contrast to the setting sun. You hum in contentment, slowly closing your eyes at the feel of Harry beside you. Your heart beats a little quicker in your chest like it always does when you are around him.

"Flower?"

"Yeah?" You open your eyes and look up at him. Harry gently pulls you onto his lap, facing him with your legs on either side of him. You give him a questioning look. He gently cups your cheeks, his own becoming pink.

"These past weeks since I met you and got to know you... have just been so wonderful..."

"I know, they really have been, haven’t they?" you agree, brushing your fingers over his jaw and wondering where this was going.

"And I don't know whether there's a correct time to say this... But…” He turns and reaches into the picnic hamper, pulling out a bundle of half a dozen tulips. You gasp quietly because you know now what he's going to say; tulips are given as declarations of love.

_ He’s been learning flower language for me? _

“I want to tell you how deeply in love with you I am already. You're the brightest light in my life now and I just need you to know that I love every little thing about you. You bring me so much joy." Harry looks at you with pure adoration. “When I’m with you, there aren’t any expectations. I don’t have to be the powerful CEO or the man that the rest of the city is so scared of, I just get to be me. You make it so easy for me to forget about all of that and I love that about you, too.”

"Harry..." Your heart pounds in your chest at his confession as you take the flowers from him. He loves you? Hell, he loves you! "That’s because… I love you, too, Harry. With all my heart. I know it sounds crazy, but you're the one man I can see myself with in the future. You’re the only man I want. No matter what you do, I don’t think I could stop loving you."

There’s a flash of skepticism in his eyes, but it’s gone in a flash. "You don't know what that means to me, Flower," he sighs, brushing your hair back from your face as you lean into his touch. One of his hands finds the back of your neck and brings you forward so that your lips meet in a searing kiss. You place the flowers gently beside you as you wind your arms around his neck to kiss him, lips moving desperately against one another, as you press your chest fully against his. 

Sighing against Harry’s lips, you can feel him practically radiate with want and need for you. You run your hands through his dark, chaotic hair that refuses to be tamed, finding out right away that he likes it when you do this thanks to his growls. His hands run down your spine, causing you to shiver. Good shivers. So good that you feel yourself begin to ache between your legs at his touch. Something that you haven’t felt with another man before.

Because Harrison Wells is unlike any other man.

He nibbles on your bottom lip, causing you to gasp and he slips his tongue past your lips, exploring you as much as he can get. His hands find their way under the bottom of your shirt, his fingers lightly brushing against the skin of your stomach and you feel that fire again. That longing for him burning within you… it’s starting to take hold of you.

Harry slowly pulls away from you, a thin line of saliva connecting your mouths from the passionate kiss. You’re breathing raggedly from the kiss' intensity. Your hands leave his hair and instead clutch onto his arms.

"I... I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to, but I want to know if you want me to keep going," he whispers cupping your cheeks gently, icy blues gazing into your own. Even in the heat of the moment, he’s such a gentleman.

"I-I do... I want you, Harry," you say, running your hands over his shoulders, eyes bright and a shy smile. Harry nods, leaning back in to kiss you again, but you press a hand to his chest to hold him back.

"...Flower?" he asks worriedly as he looks into your eyes.

"Um... it’s just I've never... I mean I haven't... done this before..." You look away to hide the colour on your cheeks. Now you’re really kicking yourself for not having disclosed this to him earlier! But you were afraid. Afraid of Harry pushing you away if he found out the truth. Most men would drop you at the fact that you’ve never been with a man before in  _ that way _ . Which is why you had let it fall to the wayside.

"So you're...?"

"Yeah..." You brace yourself for rejection.  _ Oh God, and after his declaration of love, too! _

"And I get to...?" Mouth agape, you look back at him.

‘ _ Get to’? He’s okay with this? _

"I-If you still want to..."

Your cheeks are probably as red as the roses beside you. There’s a bit of silence and then you hear him make a pleasing hum. Harry hooks a finger under your chin and guides you to look at him again. There’s amusement in his eyes, accompanied by a small smile curling on his lips.

"Of course I still want to. I'm happy to be your first, Flower. I consider it an honour. And now I know to be gentle and to take extra care with you," he starts, pecking your lips and grinning. Your heart feels like it’s doing flips in your chest. He doesn’t even ask how on Earth could a woman like you blah, blah, blah. And that only makes you love him more. He really  _ is _ unlike any man you've ever met.

"If you ever want me to stop because you're uncomfortable or hurt, just tell me and we can stop."

You nod, smiling to yourself and playing with the collar of his dress shirt.

"Harry?"

"Yes, Flower?"

"We probably should go inside for this..."

"Yeah, we should," he agrees, getting ready to stand, "hold on tight."

You do as he says, your arms wrapping around his neck and your legs around his middle as he gets up from the ground. His arms then settle around your back, supporting you as he takes you back into the house.

You go in for another kiss when you reach the threshold. His pink lips are simply irresistible. You can’t get enough.

He makes his way through the house, pecking your lips every few steps as though you were like air to him. You head upstairs to a part of the house you hadn't been in yet, as Harry pushes open one of the doors to reveal his bedroom.

It amazes you how he effortlessly carries you through the house, not once stumbling or bumping into the furniture or walls. He sets you down to lay at the head of his plush king-sized bed before crawling over top of you. A small lustful glint appears in his eyes, the colour of tropical waters fading to a black sea. Harry licks his lips at the sight of you - rosy and anticipating his mouth, his touch, waiting for his entire being to envelop you. He leans down to kiss you, his callous hands finding the hem of your shirt and sneaking them under to caress your skin. You run your hand through his hair again as he explores your mouth, your shirt now pushed halfway up your body. Harry pulls away for a second, taking the fabric in his fingers.

"May I...?"

You nod quickly, allowing him to pull your shirt up and over your head, revealing your chest to him. He smiles, placing kisses across the top of your breasts, down to where your bra covers you.

You know you're going to be constantly blushing this whole time. Just the thought of seeing  _ all _ of him was enough to do the trick. Your own fingers fiddle with the buttons of Harry's shirt and he swiftly undoes them for you and takes it off, condemning it to the floor. This reveals a chain that is draped around his neck with two little metal plaques on it, which now hang freely over you. You had no idea that Harry wore dog tags… but you soon look past them and start paying attention to his stomach.

You knew Harry was fit, but you didn't know he was  _ that fit. _ You shyly run your fingers down his toned abs, his skin is smooth but firm under your careful touch. You can’t help but stare, thinking that this is your man and how lucky you are to have him in your life.

His blue eyes watch you admire his body. That smirk shows up on his face again. "Like what you see?"

"Maybe..." You look up to him with a hint of a mischievous smile of your own.

"Well I like- no. I  _ love _ what I see." Harry leans down and kisses your chest again, his hands going to undo your bra clasp, but hesitating in case you want him to stop.

You move to give him a kiss, "Harry, it's okay. I'm okay, please keep going."

He kisses you deeply again, and you can feel his love in it and it just utterly consumes you. Once your bra hits the bedroom floor, he pulls away in order to look down at you, his eyes roaming your form like you were the most precious thing he's ever seen.

"So beautiful..." he murmurs before placing kisses everywhere he can reach. His hands start to play with the waistband of your jeans but you can tell he's hesitating again, so you put your hands over his own and guide them as he removes your pants.

He kisses your stomach before trailing small ones even lower and nipping to where your panties are, glancing up at you with blue eyes asking for permission.

"Can I?"

"Y-yeah." You nod shyly and let him slip them off you, now fully exposed to him. Your heart is going to beat out of your chest any second now, you just know it.

"So breathtaking." Harry kisses up your body, then growls against your lips before capturing you in a heated kiss. His fingers sneak over your curves and down to your increasingly wet folds. You gasp as his fingers go between your legs and brush against you, but that turns into a moan when he begins stroking you gently at a tantalizing pace. Your eyes flutter to a close at the feeling of him teasing your entrance and you're sure he can see the pleasure on your face as he gently slips one finger into you, beginning to prepare you for what it was you were about to do.

He adds another and you moan at the sensation of his fingers inside you, slowly thrusting in and out. The fact that you're giving him access to a place no one else has had access to before quite possibly makes you wetter. You squirm under him and Harry bites down hard on his lip, seeing you be so vulnerable and receptive to his touch. He’s watching your face contort in pleasure, eyeing you up like you’re the Eighth Wonder of the World. His length visibly hardens in his pants at seeing you underneath him like this.

"Oh, H-Harry," you moan breathlessly as he hits your sweet spot. He repeats his motions to get this same beautiful rise out of you - writhing in pleasure under his touch. Though you can sense he’s holding something back... He slowly removes his fingers from you, following your reaction as your eyes open at the absence of him.

"It's okay, baby," he says, beginning to remove his own pants as fast as possible until he's bared before you. Your breathing is still heavy from his earlier ministrations but now you’ve seemed to have lost your breath altogether. Your eyes widen at the sheer size of him, watching as his erection curves up perfectly toward his abdomen. Harry looks down on you seriously.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asks while leaning down, gently rubbing circles on your hips. It’s like his fingers are burning you.

"Yes, Harry, I want you. I'm sure."

He smiles at your words and reaches over to search his nightstand drawer for some protection. Harry rips the little square package open and begins rolling the condom down his impressive cock. He lines himself up with your entrance as you grip his shoulders and prepare to feel every inch of him. You know he'll keep his promise to be as gentle as he possibly can. He slowly starts to push into your untouched centre, watching you for any sign of distress. You wince a bit, feeling small sharp pains as he stretches you out to accommodate his size. Mouth open, yet no sound emitting, you begin to tear up at the pain, but try to not let them fall because you want this. God, you really do want to do this with him. So you try to ignore what you’re feeling and focus on Harry. How he’s looking at you, how he smells, how he feels against you...

Harry leans down and starts to kiss you, trying to distract you from your discomfort.

"It’s okay, Flower," he whispers against your lips, "I've got you. I'm almost all the way inside of you." He cups your face and gently brushes your tears away. “Open up for me.” He shifts you carefully on the bed for easier access.

"H-Harry, you're so b-big," you whisper shakily, feeling his thick cock pulse within you. You breathe out a long sigh when he's fully inside of you because after the pain subsides, he feels better than anything you ever could have imagined.

"You feel so good, baby... so good," he breathes, kissing you again. He starts to move his hips, setting a slow and gentle rhythm which has you moaning with every thrust. You're aware of the tight feeling in your core already coiling within you as he thrusts a touch harder into you once, causing you to groan at the sensational mix of pain and pleasure. 

But soon the pain slips away again and all you can feel now is the pleasure. You moan against his lips. His hips gently rock into you, just barely grazing your sweet spot and you accidentally roll your hips up against his careful movements, getting his length to hit you right there. You desperately want to feel that again.

"Harry... go f-faster, please."

"Are you sure? I don't want to hurt you." He pulls away and watches you attentively, his eyes full of uncertainty.

You nod, rolling your hips again. Harry ups his pace slightly for you, his dog tags dangling over your stomach, swaying in time with his movements. With his increased pace, he hits your sweet spot several times, causing a series of concurrent moans to fall from your lips.

“Harry, I think I’m-”

“Hang on, my Flower,” he says shakily, “I want us to c-come together.”

He thrusts a few more times, grinding down deep inside of you before you both equally can’t take it anymore. It only takes a couple more movements for the tightness to release inside of you as your walls clench around Harry and a euphoric feeling washes over your body, leaving you seeing stars. The feeling of you coming around him sends Harry over the edge as he finds his own release within you. The feeling is electric - losing yourselves to each other at the same time, through cries of pleasure and passion. 

He works through your orgasms a bit, breathing heavily before pulling out when you finish and sweetly kissing your forehead. Your chest heaves from what you’ve just done and you lay your hand across your forehead and simply lie there to try to catch your breath while Harry deals with the condom. 

When he collapses next to you, he brings you into his embrace for a kiss.

"How do you feel?" he asks gazing down at you. He has a warm smile on his face, happily having you in his strong arms.

"Like... I'm going to enjoy doing that more often," you whisper, starting to trace patterns on his gorgeous chest… Which is when you finally notice something. "Harry?"

"Yes?"

"Is... that a bullet wound?” You run your fingers over the small, round scar that sits over where his heart lies, looking up at him with concern.

"Um... Yeah... But you don't need to worry about that, Flower," he assures, giving you another little kiss. "It was a long time ago."

You are curious about the scar but can sense that he's fairly guarded about it. There is definitely some mystery still surrounding this man, but you figure you’ll uncover it eventually. Piece by piece. In time.

But for now, you are content to lie in your afterglow, feeling warm and comfortable in his arms, relishing the fact that you are in love with this man who makes you feel so incredible.


	6. Chapter 6

 

When you wake the next morning, you almost forget that you aren't in your own apartment. _Almost._ But everything comes flooding back when you finally register arm around your waist, instantly your ears picking up the sounds of relaxed breathing coming from right next to you. Your eyes flutter open languidly, blinking to step out of your sleepy trance. You can’t help the adoring smile that breaks out on your face when you see Harry still asleep beside you.

He looks so peaceful like this, truly content. You can only imagine that working at S.T.A.R Labs must be highly stressful, which is understandable. And yet, it looks as if any weight he could potentially bear was miles away from him.

You yawn inaudibly and rub your eyes, the early morning light filtering through the blinds. Moving your legs slowly, you feel that lingering ache radiating from between your thighs. You smile to yourself and let the memories of last night’s pleasure flood back into your mind, thinking to yourself that you really are going to enjoy doing _that_ with him more often.

After tactically removing Harry's arm so as to not disturb him in his sleep, you sit up in bed and stretch your arms. The noise your stomach makes is a loud one and you immediately cover your mid-section with your hands as if that would help. You did work up an appetite last night, after all.

You look around the room for your clothes.

 _Where_ are _my clothes?_ _Hell, where are my_ underwear _?_

The only thing that you manage to find in your morning haze is Harry’s white dress shirt. You hope he doesn't mind if you put it on...

Doing up the buttons of the shirt, you do eventually spot your clothes in various places across the floor as you tiptoe around the bed. Harry really had thrown them quite far in his lustful state last night, but you’re feeling a tad too lazy to actually wear your own clothes and just opt for his large button-up instead.

You crouch down, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear when you find your pants and dig your phone out of the pocket, which you'd forgotten was even in there last night. The digital display tells you it's not quite quarter to eight. That gives you enough time to eat with Harry before you have to get back because you need to be there to open the shop at nine-thirty.

You suddenly wish you hadn't picked a weekday for this date, though you hadn't known it was going to end the way it did when you planned it.

Which can be said for most things in life.

The sleeves of his shirt run past the length of your arms so you fold them back to your wrists. The button-up shirt clings to your curves as it flows down your body to stop mid-thigh length, keeping you covered up enough to protect your modesty. But the one thing that catches your attention is the way his cologne sticks to the silky fabric, enveloping you in his scent.

_Damn, he smells good, too._

You head into the ensuite in order to freshen up a little, then walk to the kitchen, feet quietly padding on the cool tiled floor.

 _Now, what should I make?_ You go to the fridge, opening it up to look through the variety of food he has stored in there as your stomach rumbles even louder, chastising you in its own way to make a decision.

"Bacon's on the bottom shelf, eggs at the top, I've got the toast."

Harry's voice comes from behind you suddenly and you spin around to see him enter the room, a pair of pyjama pants now covering his bottom half, but he’s still shirtless and you can't help but smile at that.

He walks over to you, dog tags dangling around his neck, and gives you a gentle good morning kiss.

"Morning, Flower," he says, brushing his thumb over your lips.

"Morning," you respond a little shyly, as his blue eyes look you over. A smirk grows on his face, saying it all.

"Well, what do we have here?" he asks teasingly, taking your hand and twirling you around to observe you in his shirt. His eyes skim your body from head to toe once more to take the sight in front of him all in.

"Couldn't find your clothes?"

You stick your tongue out at him before responding, "At first I couldn't because a certain _someone_ decided to throw them around the room last night."

You both go on to tease each other, and as you rest your hands on Harry's chest, his arms wrap around you.

"You look good in my clothes."

"You think?" you ask, fingers dancing on his collarbone. "It feels good too. You have fine taste, Doctor Wells."

"It has been said," he replies, still smirking and giving one of your sides a slight squeeze. "My taste in women right now is especially fine."

You giggle at this as he tilts your chin up and kisses you deeply. Getting lost in his touch for a minute before remembering that you don't have a huge amount of time to fool around.

You pull away and gently finger the chain around his neck. "That'll have to wait, I don't have long. I have to be at the shop in an hour and a half," you tell him, "and I'm sure you have places to be too, Mister."

Harry presses his lips into a thin line and runs his fingers over your clothed hip.

"Do we have to? We can just stay here and... do stuff."

" _Do stuff_?" You raise both your eyebrows, watching him with a humorous look.

"Yeah."

"Like what, exactly?" You bite your lip to stop your smile from growing any more.

"Like... _stuff._ "

Now you're trying not to snort at how this man, this renowned genius, is trying to convince you to stay and not go to work with the promise of “stuff”.

"Harry, I have to go to work. And. So. Do. You." You articulate your point by poking his chest. He starts pouting at you, twinkling eyes attempting to fake sadness. You kiss the pout from his lips. His hand goes to your neck to pull you closer.

"Harry," you mumble against his lips with another laugh. "I meant it... we can't."

He reluctantly loosens his hold on you and you wiggle out of his arms and turn back to the food in the fridge. "Now, will you _please_ make that toast for us because I'm _so_ hungry."

You bat your eyelashes at him and he looks fondly at you, nodding in defeat and moving towards the toaster.

You make breakfast as fast as you can, setting the table with plates of bacon and eggs. Harry pulls out the necessary silverware and assorted condiments - jelly, honey, butter, cinnamon and chocolate-hazelnut spread - waiting for the toast to be done. Once it’s toasted to perfection and set on the table, you two chow down on your breakfast. Though you can't help but notice Harry keeps glancing at you.

"What?"

He narrows his eyes a bit at you which confuses you even more.

"You have a little..." He makes a small gesture to your face where there’s a small bit of strawberry jelly on the corner of your mouth.

"Oh," you reply, but before you can go to wipe it off, Harry leans forward and kisses the jelly from the edge of your lips.

"Mmm, even sweeter than usual," he says with a little wink and you shake your head at him as you finish up your meal.

As you clean up, you take the now used-up condiment spread container and tell Harry to open up the trash can. He raises an eyebrow and you walk back to the other side of the room.

“There’s no way,” Harry shakes his head, with a little tug in the corner of his lips. You throw the container overhand and watch it sink perfectly into the trash.

“Yes way!” you shout victoriously.

“How often do you practice that?” he asks.

“Never. I’m just _that_ good,” you boast. Time is ticking, so the both of you race back up to his room to get changed into your proper clothes. You strip out of his shirt, laying it on his bed, and pull on your bra and panties. Harry already has his suit pants on, but he stops getting dressed to kiss down the back of your neck to your shoulders. You hum at the feel of him, then share a few lingering kisses and hugs with Harry before actually finishing getting dressed.

"I'll drop you home?" he checks as you make sure you have everything you came with the previous evening. "I’m assuming you'll want to change before work?"

"Yes, that'd be lovely," you reply, taking his hand as you both leave the house and head to his car parked out front in his driveway.

As he drives, Harry asks you what you have planned for the day and whether it's okay for him to stop by to buy you flowers as usual.

"You know it is," you tell him, "I love seeing you."

"I just wouldn't want you to get sick of me," he replies as he pulls up outside your place. You can’t believe this man. You just confessed your love to each other and proceeded to give him your everything last night and he thinks you’ll get sick of him?

You take his hand and give it a loving squeeze. "Never going to happen."


	7. Chapter 7

 

About a week after you first spent the magical night at Harry’s, you are quietly humming a tune to yourself as you walk down the street to Primrose Path, the nearby S.T.A.R. Labs building towering over the block. You can’t imagine that anything could break you out of this happiness you’ve found with Harry.

But when you make it to your shop and unlock the door, your carefree mood vanishes. You feel like your heart has been squeezed and a hollow feeling worms its way into your chest.

There are smashed vases and trampled stems stuck behind the door as you push it open slowly. Your breath picks up, your drink in the image set before you. Paper, which you use to wrap bouquets in, are scattered and crumpled all over the floor, plants are completely destroyed. Everything and everywhere is in complete ruin.

Your eyes skim every inch of the compact shop. There on the back wall, behind the cash register, there’s something written in red, drops dripping down from the letters. It’s still fresh. _Is that blood?_

 

_The truth will be revealed._

 

You stare in horror at the sight before you. Taking a careful step into the place, your feet crunch on papers and broken glass on the floor. You swallow at the vivid destruction. Primrose Path... Your little place, the tiny haven to escape the bustling energy of the city ... completely demolished.

Whilst attempting to salvage a few things that seemed to have avoided damage, you’re crouched down near the floor, but soon hear footsteps approaching you from behind. You hold your breath.

"Ma’am, are you okay?"

You spin around on the balls of your feet at the voice and look up to see a guy dressed in a black suit. You recognize him as having delivered Harry’s note that time and passing on your own.

"Matthew?"

"Yes, ma'am." He nods, helping you up.

"Do you know what or who could've done this?"

"I'm not sure, ma'am, but Doctor Wells instructed me to come get you.”

"How..?" _Harry knew something happened?_

"I'm not allowed to say, ma'am, but I do know he'll explain everything to you." You take another look around before sighing and dropping your head. You nod and step back out of the shop, pulling the door closed behind you. _What’s the point in locking it now?_

Matthew walks you back the way you'd come, taking you into S.T.A.R. Labs. You’d never set foot in the place before but you barely have time to look around at anything inside because you're swept along into an elevator that takes you up to the top of the building, and you're assuming, Harry's office.

You’ve had some suspicions about Harry at first after getting to know him a bit more, you can’t lie, but it’s like they had all disappeared each and every time he’d make your heart race (which was often). _Everything will clear up once I ask him, right? It's not like he's going to hide anything from me…_

_Right?_

"This way, ma'am," Matthew guides you out of the elevator and down the short corridor towards Harry’s office. There are two men stationed outside of the door who look at both you and Matthew as you approach.

“Who’s this, Matthew?” one of the men asks, making you stop in your tracks.

“Miss (Y/L/N), you know Doctor Wells has been seeing her. He asked me to bring her up here to see him,” Matthew replies with a frown and you can hear the irate undertones in his voice. You get the impression that he is not used to being questioned when it comes to his boss’ orders.

“We have orders to stop any non-personnel from seeing Doctor Wells, Matthew, we’re going to have to escort Miss (Y/L/N) off the premises,” the first man tells you while the second takes your wrist and goes to lead you back the way you’d come.

You try to protest as Matthew gets into a more heated debate with the guard. None of you hears the door to Harry’s office open or the man himself coming towards you. He snatches the second man’s hand, making him drop yours in the process, and holds it far out from his body, Harry’s thumb digging harshly into the tendons of his wrist.

You let out a little gasp as the man makes an uncomfortable noise.

“Touch her again and you lose your hand. Do I make myself perfectly clear?” Harry says, his voice is barely above a whisper but it radiates danger. You’re stunned.

“Y-Yes, Sir,” the guard stutters and, seemingly satisfied with this answer, Harry lets him go. He then nods at Matthew to follow him and gently places his hand on your lower back to guide you into his office.

As soon as the door is shut, his demeanour changes completely.

"Harry,” you breathe, still incredibly shaken from everything that’s happened today.

"Flower." He stands in front of you, eyes full of concern as he holds onto your forearms. "Are you okay?"

"Harry, how did you...?" He’s already checking you over as if looking for injuries. "Harry, I wasn't even there, I just found the shop like that, I'm okay, really."

He nods and lets out a short breath before turning to Matthew, who was still standing by the door.

"Call West. Get him on this to try and keep it as hushed up as possible," he instructs as you look around in confusion. _What is happening?_

"Sir," Matthew replies understanding his orders, slipping out of the room to make the call.

"Harry, what's going on? How did you even know about the break-in?" you ask, a little frustrated at being kept in the dark when it was you who'd been victimized here.

"I have some of my... security guards keeping tabs on you to make sure you're safe," Harry starts, rubbing the back of his neck and leaning back against his desk. He averts his icy blues from you to the ground. "I'm not a liked man, sweetheart. I have enemies in the city, even outside of it."

You stand there in a bit of shock. _Why would Harry have enemies? He was a scientist, albeit a radical one, but did that warrant enemies? Unless…_

"Harry?" His gaze wanders back to look at you. He rubs his face with a hand, clearly anxious that his secrets are beginning to unravel. You take a breath and put on a determined face with a slight frown, clenching your fists in anticipation. "Are... are you really the “Big Bad King” that runs Central City? I know that’s what everyone says..."

Harry looks at you before narrowing his eyes, dangerously so. A look you’ve not seen on him, especially towards you. But something snaps within him in defence. He gets off his desk and nears you.

"What if I am, hmm? Would you leave me if I told that I run this city by illegal means? Would you leave me if I told you that I've hurt so many people, _killed_ even, to make agreements and to make ends meet?" He moves forward as you step backwards, eventually hitting the wall with your back. Your heart thumps wildly in your chest, but… is it out of fear or love? Should you be afraid of him? With all he’s telling you, undoubtedly. Harry stands right in front of you with a deadly glint in his eyes that never leave yours as if challenging you.

You look up at him, his eyes holding a steeliness behind them, like he was preparing himself for the worst.

"Would you leave me if I told you that I _am_ the so-called “Big Bad King” of Central City and that I _love_ you?"

You are silent. He scans you one last time before turning around to look out the window to view the city, a hand running up his face to rub his eyes. You breathe heavily for a few seconds, your mind trying to comprehend everything he’s just told you.

"No," you finally speak up, watching Harry slowly turn to look at you, clearly wondering if he had heard you right. You walk right up to him with a fiery look of defiance - a stark difference from your normal blushing self. "No, I wouldn't leave. I’m never going to leave. I thought I made it pretty clear that you’re the only man I see myself with. No matter _what_ it is that you do."

You start to tear up as you speak, folding your arms tightly across your chest at the notion he could think you might drop everything you and he have together. Everything you’ve created so far.

"And I will,” you continue, “All the good and all the bad. I want that, because that's _you,_ Harry, and I love you with all my heart. I'm not going to leave you, even if you are some kind of _crime lord_!"

Harry looks at you like he can't believe what you're saying. As if he were thinking, _you_ aren’t _going to leave me?_

"(Y/N)... I'm not a good man..." he says quietly now, taking a step back towards you.

"Well, I've not seen any evidence of that," you reply. "All I've seen is a loving, caring man who buys me flowers at every available opportunity and wouldn't let me get hurt, even if it put him in harm's way instead... It's going to take a lot more than that to scare me off now. I’m in too deep with you."

Harry presses his lips together before opening his arms to you and instantly you go to him.

"I was... so worried that you'd leave if you found out. They always leave and I just... I found you. Someone precious to me, someone I want to see when I come home at the end of the day. Someone I want to give all my love to." His eyes shine, verging on tears, "I love you so much, (Y/N). I swear on my life to protect you with every fibre of my being."

You pull away and cup his face in your hands. "I love you, Harrison Wells, always. And I trust you to protect me. I’m leaving my life in your hands, okay?" He pulls you in close to his chest and holds you tight.

“Okay.”

You genuinely feel so safe in his arms. You couldn’t leave if you tried.

Just then, a long-haired man walks into the room and immediately looks awkward at seeing the two of you like this. The young man clears his throat.

“Uh, Boss?” he says.

“Ramon?”

“We found the guys.”

A charged silence falls over the room.

“You and the others - suit up. And grab my...” Harry looks down at your sweet face before continuing, “Grab my necessary _tools_.”

"I'm not going to ask," you say, looking up at him, "because I’m not sure either of us is ready for that conversation just yet, but I will ask... what am I meant to do now?"

He pauses for a second whilst contemplating it. "I'll get a few guys to go with you and they can start tidying up for you. I'll pay for everything to be fixed and have your stock replaced," he replies thoughtfully. You smile and nod at him in acceptance of his offer. You then lean up to give your man a quick kiss, fixing the lapels of his suit.

"Just be careful, okay? Come back safe."

"Anything for you, Flower." He leans down to catch one last kiss before heading out. Matthew and some more of Harry’s men have been waiting outside for you to accompany you to the broken flower shop.

“Okay, boys, let’s get to work,” you order them upon arriving back at Primrose Path. “And for the love of everything that is good, save the remaining living flowers!”

You start cleaning the shop up, picking up the few un-smashed vases and setting them to one side to keep them handy. You are about to start by sweeping the mess on the floor when your name is called.

"That's me," you say, turning to see a man in a long coat with a goatee accompanied by a vaguely familiar blond. It takes a second for you to realize he was the officer who’d arrested the metahuman where you were standing right now when you’d first set up shop in Central City.

"Detectives Joe West and Eddie Thawne, CCPD, there's been an incident here?"

"Uh, yeah," you walk closer to them outside on the sidewalk, glancing around to make sure no one was looking, but from what you’d gathered from earlier they all seemed familiar with each other. You cross your arms and go to speak again but Thawne cuts in before you can say anything else.

“I arrested a metahuman right here a few months ago, should have known they’d be likely to come back and cause trouble. Do you remember?”

“I remember,” you reply, a little curtly, “but nothing says a metahuman did this.” You turn back to Detective West, ignoring Thawne. "Did… er, did Harry send you to investigate?"

"Yeah, how do you... know Wells?"

"I'm his girlfriend," you say with a small proud smile, glancing at Matthew, who approaches you two. Thawne, meanwhile, surveys you with calculating eyes.

"Right," Joe says, looking a little weirded out, but keeps his mouth shut. "Matthew," he nods to the other man in acknowledgement, "Can you two fill us in?"

Matthew makes a small gesture for you to start and you explain to the detectives the absolute horror of arriving at your shop this morning. Then Matthew continues from where you left off, “We’ve located the perpetrators. Star City. We believe them to be members of...” Matthew eyes the room carefully, “Darhk’s team.”

Well, this is news to you! _Who is this ‘Darhk’?_

Joe seems to understand though, making a small note in his pad before turning back to Matthew. "I presume Wells has the matter... _in hand_?"

Matthew just nods, as you look between the two of them trying to keep up with all this new information.

"I'll note it down as an ongoing investigation and we'll shelve it as unsolved in a month or two," Joe says quietly, while Detective Thawne is asking one of Harry’s men a few questions, basically talking to Matthew, rather than you. "And if you want my professional opinion on the matter, I don't think it's Darhk. I think it's Merlyn. Getting his League of Assassins to wreak havoc. They’re planning something. Especially if that bloody warning is any indication," Joe adds, looking around, then glancing at you.

 _So it_ was _blood?_

"Wait, so won't the other cops want to reopen it and such? It's going to be titled unsolved, so there's bound to be someone who's going to stumble upon it," you blurt out, glancing at Joe and Matthew. You were trying to take this all in, especially with the fact that it has to do with Harry and his enemies.

"Miss, you're a smart one. But you’re right, it will be unsolved, but if someone does stumble upon it, they'll have to address me because I led the investigation," Joe explains, using his hand to gesture to the entire flower shop dilemma. “And I cover Wells’ back, so you have nothing to worry about regarding him.”

You nod though you don’t understand how the Detective was wrapped up in Harry’s business. There were obviously still many things you didn’t understand concerning that particular matter.

“So, I take it that’s all?” Joe makes sure. Matthew nods. “Then, I’m off. Nice meeting you, Miss.” Joe hands you a card with his number on it. “If you need anything, I’ll be there.”

You watch Joe and Eddie leave the scene, the latter giving you a mildly suspicious once-over before he reaches the car, and turn back to Matthew. "So... the police let Harry... do whatever?" you ask curiously, leaning on the broom in your hands.

"I don't think I'm the one to tell you any of that... You'll have to ask Doctor Wells," he replies automatically before going back to the mess scattered around you.

After you’ve all cleaned up, you even manage to teach the boys how to carefully handle the living flowers, making sure to crack a few jokes and give them cheery smiles to lighten up the mood. At first, they were wary since you’re their boss's sweetheart, but before the day was over they were all comfortable around you. It was impossible not to be because who could resist cleaning up while playing wastepaper basketball with you? You show the guys your mad skills by never missing the bin once when you’d throw the dirty rags in. After doing a few trick shots, they wanted in on it too, and this was how your break was spent.

While Harry’s men continue to play each other in a game of “Horse”, you decide to treat them by making the group some sandwiches and offer them lemonade for all their hard work.

"Oh no, Ma’am, we really couldn't," Matthew puts up a fight on behalf of the group.

"Nonsense, you've helped me with this huge mess and made sure I was safe. I'd be a terrible owner if I didn't treat you for all you’ve done for me!"

“We really-”

You give them a deadpanned look. “You’re going to eat the sandwiches I’ve made you and drink the gosh darn lemonade and _like_ it.” Of course, you meant it as a joke, but the men seem to take you seriously.

“Okay, Ma’am.” Matthew takes a bite of his sandwich and then says, “I can see why the boss is so taken with you.” You smile winningly before tucking into your own lunch.

A few minutes later, you hear a car pull up and a couple of doors shut before the shop door opens, revealing Harry. All the guys instantly stand up at the appearance of their boss but he waves them off with one hand, coming directly over to you.

"Everything okay?" he asks, hugging you.

"Mmm, yeah... Are _you_ okay?" You look up and check him over for any injuries as he had done to you earlier, cupping his cheeks with your hands.

"I'm fine, Kitten. The boys did what you asked of them?"

"Yeah, they're good men, Harry," you smile up at him, glancing at the tired men, eating their lunch.

"They are my men after all," Harry confirms with a smirk, raising his eyebrow at you and holding both your hands.  "Speaking of which, there are some people I want you to meet. They're my... Inner Circle of specialists."

_Inner Circle? That doesn’t sound intimidating at all…_

“Okay,” you say, voice wavering a bit. He’s finally starting telling you things about the work he does, bit by bit. This is a big step. It’s not meeting one’s parents or children or anything, but it feels as nerve-wracking as if it were. Harry gestures to some people on the other side of the window and immediately the three in question walk through the door of your shop.

The first one is the guy with fantastic hair who'd come into the office earlier... Ramon, Harry had called him. _His hair is better than mine!_

Next to him is a woman with white-blonde hair, blue lipstick, and has a look on her face that almost dares someone to cross her. The last is a taller man with short brown hair and an easy, kind of cute smile on his face.

"(Y/N), this is Cisco Ramon, Barry Allen, and Frost... though she's more often Caitlin Snow.”

"Hi." You give them a kind smile and wave at them. You immediately get a good vibe off of them.

"Uh, um hi! I'm uh- Allen Barry- Barry Allen," the one with the cute smile introduces himself, holding a hand out. "It’s a pleasure to meet you."

You shake his hand and say, "You remind me of a nervous puppy, Barry."

"Smooth, dude. I'm Cisco." The other man elbows Barry and extends a hand to you as well. "Nice to finally meet you. Harry won't shut up about you." Frankly, you’re tickled pink at the fact that Harry talks about you to his people. “We almost thought he was making you up.”

"Ramon," Harry warns, glaring at the smaller man. You look up at Harry and peck his cheek. Frost speaks up next.

“Nice to have another woman brought into the mix,” she says with approval, “Can you fight?”

“No... I’ve never had a reason to.”

“And you never will,” Harry says sternly, and flashing the woman, Frost, a glare as if to say, _stop talking now_. You look up at him with the severity of his tone and he looks dead serious about it too, sliding a protective arm around your waist. But you're actually quite happy about that. It's as though he's making sure to make good on his promise to keep you safe.

"You'll meet Caitlin later, I'm sure," he says. Addressing the others in the room, Harry orders, "Time to move out, there are too many of us here, we could be a target out in the open."

"Yes, Sir.” They all head to the cars or walk back down the street, and you hurriedly close up shop to hop in beside Harry in his car. Once settled, he takes your hand and kisses the back of it. He has the driver follow behind Barry and the others back to the Labs.

"So, what do you think?" he asks.

"About them? I like them, they seem like really good people with their hearts in the right places. Funny, too!" You can just imagine Barry and Cisco goofing off on the job. They seem the sorts to do that kind of thing.

"They're... excitable." Harry watches you for a moment, calculating, analyzing. "There are some more things I know I need to show you, tell you. But in time.”

“Of course, I understand.”

“But for now you and I can relax in my office."

"Okay, yeah, I think I could do with a little relaxing right now," you say with a little, tired laugh. Today has been a lot to take in, to say the least.

Harry pulls you close in the back seat as you travel the short distance back to the Labs, where you swiftly make your way back up to the top of the building.

He holds your hand, his thumb rubbing it in soothing circles. You smile up at him to assure him that you'll be okay. This second time you set foot in his office, you actually take it all in. Multiple papers sit on his main desk, small devices and gadgets littered another and cozy-looking seats accented the large office in the corner.

"It all makes sense now. Why you’re such a busy man," you break the silence, taking a seat on one of the couches and sighing as you do.

"Effectively running two high-paced and changeable businesses will do that for you," he replies with a resigned chuckle. Harry takes a seat next to you and runs a hand through his hair, making a few bits stick up a little.

"That's what you see it as, then? A business?" you ask, unable to restrain yourself from both reaching forwards and smoothing his hair back down and subtly pressing him for a few more answers to his mysterious life.

"Yeah, the Labs and... well, they're both businesses, just one's slightly less legal than the other..." He gives a small bashful grin, rubbing the back of his neck. You start to run your fingers through his soft and silky hair. Harry leans into your touch, closing his eyes and letting out a quiet sigh. You love getting these kinds of reactions from him.

"So the Labs, that's mostly just all your legal science-y stuff, right?" You quirk an eyebrow at him, removing your fingers and folding your hands in your lap, looking at him expectantly.

"Yes, all sorts of _legal science-y_ stuff," he seems to be entertained with your curiosity, amusement evident in his blue eyes.

You sit there in silence for a bit looking at each other, but really you were thinking about how to approach the next topic.

"Harry, I'm... I won’t ask you about the other business quite yet..." You look down and fiddle with your hands, "but just know I will once I fully process everything that’s happening."

He nods, clearly knowing that this moment was fast approaching in your relationship. "I know, Flower," he says gently, placing his hand over yours in your lap, "and I'll explain when that time comes."

You give him a small smile, knowing that you've reached an understanding. He brings you in for a hug, holding you close until there's a knock on the door. Harry reluctantly pulls away and says, "Come in."

The door opens, revealing Matthew who has a serious look on his face. "Boss, we went to check Miss (Y/L/N)'s apartment like you said and... It's in the same state as the shop, they must have been watching to see when she left this morning before going in."

You slowly get up from the couch and look at Harry then to Matthew. Before you can open your mouth to speak, Harry beats you to it.

"Thank you, Matthew, that'll be all," he responds tightly, his eyes narrowed in thought. Matthew nods to you both before leaving, closing the door behind him.

"It’s not safe for me to go back there, is it?" you ask, nibbling on your bottom lip. Harry stands up, lips pressed into a thin line as if he were looking for some sort answer, a solution.

"No, no, absolutely not. You can't stay there..." he says beginning to pace the room. "I don't think that they're trying to hurt you, else they wouldn't have waited for you to leave... they're trying to send me a message. But you're not safe, that’s for certain."

You have no idea who ‘they’ are, and you’re not certain Harry does at this point either. Surely they’d have been _dealt with_ by now if he did. Whatever that entailed. But you look up at him, your imagination creating the image of your apartment looking like your trashed shop.

"I can always call a friend," you start, as you take your phone out. "I can stay with them until things calm down, that way I'm not in your way of figuring things out."

"No, you're not in the way, you'll never be in the way," he says abruptly and makes his way over to you. Harry places his large hands on your shoulders, eyes looking intently into your own, "I want you to stay with me. For a couple days at least, to ensure that I can keep you safe."

"Well... if you're sure," you reply, putting your phone back in your pocket.

"I've never been unsure when it comes to you," he says, dipping his head to press a slow kiss to your lips. You're comforted by the feel of him, knowing that he's here to protect you.

"Can we go and get things? From my apartment?" you ask hesitantly, not wanting to go to his without the essentials. “I’ll need to bring some clothes.”

"Yeah, of course," Harry smiles down at you before a teasing smirk made its way to his beautiful face, "But I mean, you could always wear _my_ clothes." He wiggles his eyebrows at you, his hands already on your hips.

"Harry!" Your cheeks turn scarlet and you lightly slap his arm. This man is going to be the death of you one day.

"What? I think you look cute when you wear my shirts," he says, smirk still in place, "not that you don't look cute anyway."

You chuckle and rest your head against his shoulder.

After Harry finishes up a few things that needed attending to, he (and several of his men) accompanies you back to your apartment in order to pick up your stuff.

The mess inside is horrible, just as you’d feared, and you find yourself stuffing a few outfits and your makeup bag into a larger bag as speedily as you can so you didn't have to survey the destruction for longer than necessary.

You make a beeline for Harry, who is instructing his entourage about what to do with the damage.

"Ready?" he asks, staring down at your packed bag.

"As ready as I'll ever be," you respond as he takes your hand and leads you out to take you back to his place.

When you arrive at Harry's, he leads you up towards his bedroom, but instead of opening his door, he opens the one to the right and leads you into another large, comfortable room.

"You can, er, have this one... because I know this isn't exactly your choice and you might want some space of your own. But as you know, I'll be just next door-"

You put a hand on his chest to stop him rambling and he pauses, looking down at you. You push up on your toes and kiss his nose.

"Thank you, Harry. You're so sweet." You smile brightly up at him and you notice his face pinkens faintly.

"Okay, I'll leave you to unpack, then," he says, "I'll make some dinner?"

"That'd be lovely."

He leaves the room with a smile and a scratch of his head, leaving you to spend a little time hanging your clothes in the wardrobe before going to join Harry for dinner.

You almost squeal when you jump onto the plush bed. _Oh, this is going to be so nice to sleep on tonight._ Better than your old mattress, that one seriously needs to be replaced. You lie down and think for a bit. A huge grin breaks out on your face at the thought of living with Harry, even if it is for a few days. You change into some fresh new clothes that aren’t covered in dust from the shop and go down into the kitchen to find him still cooking away. You hug him from behind.

"Can I help?"

"I'm almost done, Flower, but you can get some plates out of that top cupboard there," he says, indicating to the right one with his head as he stirs something in a pot.

You give him a smile and pull out a couple of plates then notice the bottle of wine on the counter.

"I thought we could both do with a drink," he tells you.

"Hmm, yeah, you're not wrong."  

You both eat the heavenly pasta dish he had made, and when you couldn’t possibly eat any more, you decide to move to sit on the grassiness of his garden afterward. The wine bottle is sure to join you.

Sitting comfortably in between his legs, you lean your head back against his shoulder, and let out a content sigh as you look up at the stars that are beginning to sparkle in the sky.

Despite the chaos of today and the prospect of having to rebuild large portions of your life, you find yourself feeling incredibly relaxed in Harry's embrace. You turn a bit in his arms and look at him, contemplating something. Harry looks questioningly at you, icy blue eyes glowing in the dim lights from above. You set your glass down and narrow your eyes, going to reach up and play with his hair. His adorably floofy hair that can't be tamed for too long.

"Having fun there?" He sounds amused with how focused you were with his hair.

"Yeah, I am actually," you reply, very much entertained, likely thanks to the wine. You place a little kiss on his cheek. "You're so cute like this, baby."

"You're telling me, a man that you've just learned is a hardened criminal, that I’m _cute_?" he asks. You don't miss the slight tinge rise on his cheeks.

"Yup!" you answer and kiss his nose then rub your own against his. Now he’s gone red! Harry tries his best to look away, but you’re not having any of it. "Nuh uh, I want to see your face, Mister Doctor." You cup his cheeks in both hands and get him to look at you. "Did I just get the hardened criminal, the King of Central City, to _blush_?" You smirk at him.

"...No."

 _Oh, he really is just too cute!_ You can't help but snicker at his reaction, placing little kisses all over his face to see if you can fluster him even more. But soon you find yourself yawning a little and Harry catches sight of it.

"Time for bed, I think, my Flower. You've had quite the day."

You nod a bit before pecking his lips then rest your forehead against his shoulder while wrapping your arms around him.

"But I don't want to get up," you sigh not wanting to move or leave his embrace.

Harry sighs at your own cuteness, "I'll carry you to your room, okay?"

"Okay." You let out another yawn and hang on tight, Harry standing up with you securely in his arms. You automatically wrap your legs around him and he starts making his way into the mansion to your temporary room. Although you do wish you had the courage to crawl into bed next to him, this will suffice.

He places you down when he reaches your door. You smile up at him, leaning up to kiss him goodnight where meets you halfway. He strokes his thumb over your cheek as you get your goodnight kiss.

"Sweet dreams, Flower," he says when you part. "Anything you need, I'm here."

"Goodnight, Harry," you reply, closing the door slowly when he enters his own room. You sigh, feeling content. You're here with him. Safe and sound.

However, there's this creeping feeling that won’t leave you alone. The feeling of something about to go wrong that eats at you. Like someone is watching, waiting to attack, or try to ruin this perfect dream-like life that you've been living. Whatever or whoever is after you might want you out of the picture or to at least use you to get to Harry. You don't want him to think of you as a weakness or a disadvantage…

You go to the bathroom to wash up and brush your teeth, attempting to calm yourself down and get these crazy thoughts out of your head. But by the time you've crawled under the soft sheets and gotten comfy, the feeling still hasn't left you. You roll over in the bed, but no matter what you do, you can't seem to fall asleep. There's something missing…

Lifting your head from the pillow, you look towards the door. He had said _anything_ you needed... that includes sleep, surely?

You tiptoe out of your room and into the hallway, finding yourself in front of his bedroom door. You don’t want to be a bother to him or anything, but you know you would feel better with him close to you.

"It’s now or never," you whisper to yourself with a little sigh. At first, you knock on his door. When he doesn’t answer, you open it and find him fast asleep in his bed. He looks so serene. Like an angel, rather than the devil the public makes him out to be. His face shows no sign of any of the burdens he bears or the troubles he faces day to day. You sneak across to the other side of the bed, nibbling on your lip as you pull the sheets up and climb into the bed next to your boyfriend.

You can feel the way he's radiating heat beside you so you shuffle a little closer, but keeping a little distance so that you don't disturb him. You close your eyes and calm your mind.

"Flower?" he mumbles, shifting and running a hand through his hair.

Your eyes open at his voice and look up at him, "Oh no, did I wake you?"

"Yeah, but that’s fine. What's wrong? Couldn't sleep?" Harry scoots closer to you and props himself up on an elbow to get a good look at you, arm flexing in the faint light.

"Yeah," you confess, feeling ridiculous for coming to him for such a small thing as this.

"Hey, it's okay," he insists, lifting his other arm up so that you can move closer to him. "Come here."

You give him a grateful smile and move over so that you are pressing against his chest in your thin white tank top, cradled in his warmth. He wraps his arms around you, settling down against the pillows again.

He places a kiss to the top of your head. "It's okay if you're scared, Flower, you've been through a lot today." You play with the fabric of his black undershirt, running your fingers lightly over it.

"I know, I just can't help but feel silly for coming to you about this. I’m sorry," you say, looking up at him with a small smile. Harry cups your cheek and kisses your forehead sweetly.

"Hey, don't be sorry. I want you to come to me for anything. And I mean _anything_ that's troubling you. Big or small. Silly or serious. I want to be able to help you no matter what it is," Harry whispers as his thumb rubs your cheek, trying to comfort you.

"I love you so much," you say, leaning into his touch automatically before yawning again.

"I love you, too. Now, get some sleep, my girl," he replies. And you do just that, closing your eyes and very quickly drifting off thanks to the calming sound of his strong heartbeat and the warmth his body is giving off.

 

***

 

Harry rhythmically runs his fingers through your hair, hoping that would soothe you into a deep and comfortable sleep. It always soothes him when you do it to him. He doesn’t fall asleep again right away though. His mind is still alert to the thoughts of who would want to threaten him or get to you to use against him.

Darhk's been on the down low for a couple of years now, even out of the country, or so Harry's been told by Queen.

But Merlyn... There’s a man with more than just a chip on his shoulder.

Harry knows he had been careless in all of this. You weren't supposed to be finding out this much, this soon. At least not how you did. He really shouldn’t have pursued anything with you in the first place… But it was impossible not to.

_I mean, just look at her._

Eventually, you would know all about him being a crime syndicate leader and one of the most feared men in the Underground Network. He should have kept you at arm’s length longer, if anything, because now it’s happening. Whoever it is, _they_ know. They know about _you_.

And Harry knows the faster you bury yourself into his heart, the sooner he would bear his soul to you.

It was only inevitable.

Harry sighs before allowing himself to succumb to sleep. Right now he'll remain content with having you like this in his arms, hoping that this won’t be the last time you two sleep together.


	8. Chapter 8

 

You wake the next morning having slept so well, you can't help but grin. Despite everything that happened the previous day, you just can’t find it in you to be sad. At the end of the day, your shop and apartment were damaged, but everything could be replaced. What matters is that you’re safe and your relationship with Harry, if anything, has been made stronger by this whole scenario.

Turning your head back slightly, you see that Harry is still sleeping next to you, his hair sticking up at those cute, odd angles from where he's moved around in the night. You decide to leave him be and rustle up some breakfast for you both. Admittedly, you have fun trying to remove yourself from his embrace where he’s spooning you, but you do manage it and quietly walk barefoot out of the room.

First, you stretch your limbs and go freshen up back in your room next door, then head down to the kitchen. Once there, you’re sure to raid the fridge for some eggs and bacon, knowing exactly where everything is hidden this time around. You decide to make omelettes this morning, with the eggs in one pan and start up the bacon in another. While cooking, you start humming a joyful little tune and look out the kitchen window to marvel at the the sight of the dewy garden. Your already present smile widens and your heart skips a beat because you were sure that he did all that for you. Doing a happy dance, you fry up the eggs to perfection. _Life is so good…_

But when you turn around to grab the pepper, you almost have a heart attack.

“Harry!” You clutch your heart. “You nearly scared me to death!”

He just stands there with his arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe. A smirk appears on his perfect pink lips.

"Don't mind me," he says, gesturing for you to continue, "I was just admiring the view."

_And he does not mean out of the window…_

You bite your lip at his words. You're wearing some pyjama bottoms and a white tank top... hardly an alluring ensemble, but if he likes it, then who are you to judge? You have to turn around to hide your red face.

“Shouldn’t I be the one making you breakfast?” he asks as he makes his way over to you.

“Next time you can.”

Harry places his hands on your waist behind you and leans down to kiss your neck. “You have some nice moves, by the way,” he says with a growing smile against your skin. You visibly cringe.

"How much of that did you see?"

"Enough to cement you as the cutest person I've ever met," he replies, placing another kiss below your ear and then one to your burning up cheek. He surveys the food over your shoulder. "Smells good."

“Mmhmm.”

While you finish cooking up the heavenly scented breakfast, Harry brews a pot of coffee and gets the necessary silverware ready. When it’s finally time to dig in, the noise of approval Harry makes after taking his first bite makes your heart soar.

“You’re never leaving me,” he says in between chewing. “For any reason. Ever.”

You press your lips together in a satisfied smile, thrilled he likes your creation.

The pair of you make small talk over breakfast, with Harry teasing you on your earlier activities, which makes you laugh out of embarrassment. This just feels so _right_ . You and him in this house together... you could _so_ get used to this.

You kind of want to ask him if you could just stay with him even after the coast is clear. At first, you didn’t want to be a burden, staying with him so early on in the relationship, but after feeling everything you’re feeling now? You never want to leave. You half wonder if he’d notice if you slowly started moving your household items into his place piece by piece...

"So, anything important you have to get done at the company today?" you ask, glancing up at him curiously, starting to clear the table and place the empty plates into the sink. _You_ might not have anywhere to go to work this morning, but you can’t imagine that Harry still won’t be busy. Probably more so, what with everything that’s happened.

"Nope," Harry simply responds, taking care of the dishes.

"No? But I thought that…?" You raise an eyebrow in confusion and turn away from the marble island to look at him full-on. "You're a busy man, Harry, and I don't want to be the reason that a project or something is getting delayed." Harry puts away the extra plates in one of the cabinets before looking down at you.

"I'm the head of the company, so I get to dictate when to take a day off and I'm taking one now just to spend time with you, (Y/N). I have plenty of capable people who do their jobs better than anyone. They can cope without me for a day."

“And you’re not just doing this to make sure someone doesn’t decide to whack me?” You had meant it as a joke, but Harry clearly doesn’t seem to take it as such. “Harry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

He’s already up and walking over to you, his arms find their way around you in comfort. For your comfort or his, you aren’t sure.

“ _Don’t_ say that. For one thing, you’re not going to get _whacked_. Absurd. Second, I couldn’t possibly spend today away from your ravishing self, so I’m going to be right here with you. We can do whatever you like.” You wrap your arms around him, thinking for a bit of what you could do together. You let out a tiny gasp, your eyes lighting up as you pull away from him.

"Can we take a walk through the garden? I only got to see a small part last time, I can tell you what the flowers mean and what they're called!" Harry is delighted with your enthusiasm.

"If this is what you're like when you're fully rested, then you should sleep with me more often."

The colour in your face deepens at his suggestion, as well as the hidden meaning in that phrase, not actually knowing if he was joking or not. Because if he wasn't, you would totally jump at the offer. So all you do is bite your lip and look into his eyes expectantly, waiting for his answer. Harry strokes your pink cheek with his thumb.

“Tell me everything you know, Flower.”

Immediately, you grab him by the hand and drag him outside. Who cares if you’re both still in your night clothes? It’s not like anyone can see you! Not with those massive hedges that run around the perimeter of Harry’s backyard property (if you could even call it a ‘backyard’). You can’t wait to share your knowledge with Harry and it means the world to you that he’s genuinely interested in what you do and is willing to learn.

You see such variety. Some not even _you_ have in your flower shop, so you’re sure to make a mental note of the ones you didn't have. You rattle off some complicated names of flowers to him like Alstroemeria, Delphinium, and Gladiolus followed by various facts about them. Harry holds your hand the entire time, watching you lovingly as you energetically and passionately ramble on about each flower’s meaning.

"Gladiolus typically means strength of character, honour, and faithfulness. Kind of reminds me of you, Harry." You grin up at him, tucking your hair behind your ear. You can't stop smiling when you're around him. Harry plucks a flower from below and fastens it into your hair.

“A flower for my Flower,” he says.

You continue your little flora lesson for the rest of the morning, swinging hands with Harry as you walk along the pebbled garden path. Eventually, you two head inside for lunch, making your specialty - club sandwiches.

"I thought you said you'd let me cook?" He raises an amused eyebrow at how you head to the kitchen to make you both something. You already feel so at home here. He leans back against the island, watching you work.

"Yeah, but you cooked me dinner like two - or was it three? - times before. And besides, you're letting me stay for a couple of days. I'd feel terrible if I just sat around and let you do _everything_ ," you say, getting a few ingredients from the fridge. He shakes his head at you.

As you start to prep the snack, Harry’s phone rings on the counter. He casually checks the display before picking it up to answer.

“Wells, here.”

There’s a moment of silence before he answers again, turning away from you.

“No, it’s not a good- I told you-” You watch him talk to whoever is on the other line. The lines on his forehead appear as he frowns from what he’s being told.

You finish making the sandwiches and set them on plates, but worry fills you at the tone of his voice. _What if someone got hurt? Like Matthew or Cisco? Frost or Barry?_ You just made new friends. You don't want them to get hurt because someone is targeting you.

"Yes, Allen- I know-" Harry sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, "I'll be over as fast as I can anddon’tevenmakeajoke- ugh." Harry sets his phone down and turns to you.

"You have to go," you beat him to it. "Go, Harry, they need you."

“I’m sorry, it’s unavoidable and it’s well, it’s...”

“It’s the _other_ business. I gathered as much.”

“Will you be okay here on your own?”

“Please! Of course I will. Now go!”

Harry hesitates, still meeting your eyes, but finally turns to leave. He makes his way to his room to change into an all-black ensemble while you make more sandwiches. You know the Inner Circle members are going to get hungry from... whatever it is they do. When Harry comes back, he looks sexy as hell in a black long sleeve and slacks. Your breath catches. It doesn’t even look like he brushed his hair (and that is _not_ a bad thing). He’s fiddling with putting on his watch when you offer him the small box filled with sandwiches, which brings out a confused look on his face.

"It's for when all of you get hungry. And don't even try to deny it. With how much you all work it’s going to happen," you say with crossed arms and a knowing look. Harry gives a yielding smile before leaning down to kiss you.

"What would I do without you?"

“Let’s hope we never find out,” you reply and kiss him once more. “Be safe, please, with whatever you’re doing.”

“I will. And I’ll send some of my trusted people to drop by and check on you in a little while, so don’t be alarmed, okay?”

“So, I’ll have to change out of this?” You do a twirl, still in your night clothes. Harry bites his lip.

“Unfortunately.”

“Fine.”

His eyes meet yours one more time before catching you off guard and giving you yet another kiss. He sets the box down on the table and cups your face. At first, you expected it to be a short kiss... but then it got longer. And longer. Oh, and when he introduces his tongue, you know you’re going to have a hard time separating from each other. His hands fall to your hips and your arms wrap around his neck, pulling him closer. Your lip-smacking sounds are accompanied by pleasant hums.

"I should... go..." he whispers against your lips in between kisses. His grinding hips tell you otherwise, pressing you back against the counter.

“You should...” you say, though not wanting it to become a reality in the slightest. Not when he makes you feel this good.

“It’s important work.” He kisses you again.

“I believe you,” you exhale against his parted lips. When you both finally pull away from each other, breathing heavily, your cheeks are so hot and you feel dazed from the intensity of the moment.

"We'll finish this later," he vows, grabbing the sandwiches and winking at you before taking his leave.

_He really needs to stop winking before I jump him._

_Who_ am _I anymore?!_

In a small voice not quite loud enough for him to hear, you say, “Make good choices.” You stand in the kitchen still in your hazy, aroused state before realizing that you have to go make a rapid wardrobe change before his people arrive. You hastily change into some of the clothes, a shirt and cropped jeans, that you’d brought with you and neatly fold your pyjamas up, placing them under one of the pillows on Harry's bed. He didn't seem to have any objection to you sleeping with him and you weren't about to pass up the opportunity to do it again.

It’s when you’ve put the finishing touches of your makeup on that the doorbell rings. You gingerly make your way downstairs, even though you know it was just Harry's people coming to check on you.

You peer through the peephole at the door and see two women with Matthew as well as three other men.

The first woman looks almost identical to Frost, except for the drastic style differences and caramel-brown hair. The second woman is shorter, beautifully dark-skinned and has wavy dark brown hair. They both have kind smiles on their faces and you know you were going to be okay with Matthew here, but these women seem friendly, so you unlock the door to open it.

“Hi, there" you greet them with a grin and tiny wave. _No need to be wary anymore._

"Ma'am," Matthew addresses you with a small nod of his head, "everything okay?"

"Mmhm, just peachy" you reply, "But I mean, Harry's not been gone too long so... did you want to come in?" you ask suddenly, realizing they're all still on the doorstep.

"Thank you, Ma'am," Matthew says, and you open the door wide for them all to enter. The guys immediately make their way further inside to patrol the premises for potential threats to your safety, but the two women hang back as you close the door. You lead them to the living room where they look around in awe. It seems like Harry doesn't have many guests over, even if they are part of the Inner Circle.

"Oh, uh, we haven't introduced ourselves, sorry. I'm Iris. Iris West," she starts, breaking the small silence that had fallen upon the three of you. She holds out a hand which you shake.

"It’s nice to meet you. I'm assuming Harry has already told you who I am so..." you say with a polite smile. You turn to the other woman, pointing at her with a confused look on your face.

"Not to be rude or anything, but you sort of look like-"

"-Frost? I guess Harry didn't tell you, but I'll leave that up to him. I'm Caitlin Snow, it's a pleasure to meet you." She shakes your hand and you offer her another smile.

"So you guys... work for Harry too?"

"I do, yeah," Caitlin says, "I'm a bio-engineer, so I run quite a few of the projects we work on at the Labs."

You nod in understanding before turning to Iris.

"I wasn’t originally involved in all this," she tells you, "But I'm Barry's girlfriend and my dad works at CCPD and helps Harry out, so I kind of got swept up in it all. I try to promote S.T.A.R. Labs projects in a positive light. I'm a reporter for CCPN."

"So, what about the ‘Inner Circle’ and all their mysterious work? Are you part of _that_ side of Harry’s business too?" you press.

“You would be correct,” Caitlin confirms. You’re starting to think that you could be good friends with these two in the future from this short time of meeting them. You offer for them to take a seat and relax on the couch.

"Iris, you're very lucky to have Barry by your side. He seems like a good guy and you know, he reminds me of a puppy."

"Right? I've known him my whole life and he's been like that since we were kids," she answers, a grin blooming on her face like happy memories were flashing through her mind. You know that feeling she’s having well.

"Wait until you see the sort of mischief he and Cisco get into," Caitlin says, "I don't know how many times I've told those two to stay away from my personal projects and yet they still behave like little boys."

You three go on to talk about the boys and gossip, thoroughly enjoying each other’s company before asking them if they'd like to see the garden Harry had surprised you with.

They both confirm that they'd love to since the sun was still shining high in the sky. So you head out of the house, leading the other two out into the vibrant coloured garden where you start a little circuit around the flower beds.

"I didn't know Harry was a flower kind of a guy..." Iris muses, looking around in amazement. "But then _you_ are, aren't you? Barry told me about your shop. Harry must really love you."

You smile meekly at that, but it is nice to know that people Harry has known for ages could visibly see that he’s so happy with you.

"I guess when it comes to love, you'd do anything for the other person to be happy," Caitlin says. "You seem to be on his mind a lot. He really does talk about you a fair bit, you know."

"I just hope I'm not distracting him from his work or anything," you say, rubbing your wrist as you finish your walk.

Matthew comes up to you three, "Ma'ams, it seems like the perimeter is secure and nothing is out of the ordinary. We will continue to patrol until the Boss returns."

You glance at the ladies, then speak up, "Thank you, Matthew. I should have some lunch out for you and your men in a few minutes."

"Ma'am, you really don't have-" he tries to protest with you again, but you're not about to let your "protectors" go hungry.

"It's seriously the least I can do," you say with an encouraging smile and Matthew shakes his head a bit as he gives in.

"Alright, thank you very much," he replies before disappearing back out towards the front.

"I've never seen Matthew fold so fast in my life," Caitlin says with a stunned puff of air. "Have you done a number on all these guys?"

You smile and shrug, replying, "Kindness always pays."

You and Caitlin decide to head inside, but Iris lingers behind a bit.

"Iris, are you coming?" Caitlin asks. You turn to the reporter.

"Yeah, I just want to check something out. I'll be inside in a minute," she responds, then goes back through the garden path. Caitlin looks at you then shrugs before you both head inside. It’s time to get started on making some food for the security team.

You and Caitlin have a fun time while you work and she tells you a couple of non-incriminating stories about your boyfriend which make you crack up. You were right in thinking you were going to get along well. It was so easy and nice to have girlfriends in a new place.

The both of you take the plates of food out to Matthew and the other guys; two of them are standing sentry on the door while Matthew and the other patrol the driveway a little further up.

"Do I really need this much protection?" you wonder out loud, half to Caitlin and half to yourself.

"Oh hun, believe me when I say you do," she answers, placing her hand on your shoulder. You and she hand the men their meal and walk over to give Matthew his.

"I mean, I know he has enemies and everything because of his... _business_. But what good would it do if these people came after me?" You stop half-way and stare at her. "I mean, I don't want them, whoever they are, to come after Harry either, but..."

"You just want to live in peace with him?" Caitlin gives you a sympathetic look.

"Yeah... He means everything to me. But it scares me that, with the world he lives in, there might be a day where he doesn't come back..."

"Look, Harry is smart. Smarter than anyone I've ever met. He only takes risks when he needs to and even then it's all been thought out to the last detail. He knows how to handle himself and he’s just trying to do the same for you now," Caitlin assures you with a small smile. "Plus, he has Barry, Cisco and myself. We all have each other's backs."

You take a deep breath and give her a smile. "And I’m so glad for that."

The pair of you head back inside and see that Iris has finally come back into the house.

"Hey," you greet Iris, who is relaxing on the couch.

"Hey," she says with a small wave of her hand. You offer your new friends some drinks and when they agree happily, you bring them their beverages and take a seat so that you’re sitting in between the two ladies.

After you three get into a small conversation over some of the latest events in Central City, there’s a moment of silence, and Iris leans over to whisper something in Caitlin's ear. This  confuses the biochemist at first, but then nods in understanding. Iris gets up and ushers you to sit in her place and she takes a place on the floor in front of you. You look at them both for a second as Iris kneels up, bringing all your hair around to one side and begins to loosely braid it while Caitlin sorts through the flowers that Iris has evidently brought inside with her.

You sit there as they braid your hair while Caitlin adds the beautiful flowers to adorn the braid. As soon as Iris finishes up twisting your locks, her phone beeps in her pocket and she pulls it out to take a look.

"Barry says they’re almost here,” she says, tapping the screen to type out a reply, “Barry, Harry, and Cisco by the sounds of it.”

You nod and smile, relieved at the thought of Harry coming home.

"Alright! I think I'm done," Caitlin breaks the few moments of silence, admiring her handiwork. "Not bad, if I do say so myself!"

"I’m dying to see!"

Caitlin simply hands you her compact mirror. You look at your reflection, seeing the way she’s placed half a dozen lilies and a few other small white flowers in your braid. Iris looks rather pleased, too.

"Oh, it's so pretty," you tell them both, letting it lie over your shoulder, “Thank you!”

"Are you three getting along well?"

Harry's voice suddenly sounds from behind you and you whip your head to see him enter the room, followed by Cisco, then Barry, who Iris instantly gets up for and goes over to hug him.

_I bet she worries about him all the time, too._

Harry has his hands in his pockets and a tiny smile inching across his face. Though, he’s clearly trying to suppress a much bigger one due to present company. He eyes you up, and you watch as his gaze follows the pattern of the white lilies accenting your hair and further down to the rest of your outfit, his cheeks turning a little pink. Cisco appears to notice the tinge on his boss’ face and probably makes a mental note to pester him about that in the future. You grin up at your man and get off the couch, making your way to him as he opens his arms for you.

"Hey.”

"Hi." Harry wraps his arms around your waist, being careful of the flowers so intricately placed in your hair. "They look good."

"All Iris and Caitlin's skillful work," you say, turning your head and smiling at each of them in turn.

"Thank you for agreeing to stay," Harry tells them both as well and they nod in understanding. Harry releases you from his hug as he addresses everyone.

"Right, well, go on home, all of you. Rest up. Good job today." His order is gruff and you think he's trying to restrain himself from physically ushering them out of the house. Someone was clearly desperate to be alone with you…

"If I didn't know any better, I’d say that you're trying to kick us out, Harry," Cisco says raising his eyebrows teasingly at Harry, a hand going up to tap his chin thoughtfully. "What's old Harry Wells in a hurry to do, huh?"

Caitlin covers her mouth with her hand.

"Yeah, what's the rush? We're all friends here," Barry adds in with a smug smile, his arm around Iris' shoulder. Iris, in turn, facepalms. "Nothing beats all of us spending time together _right_ _now_."

 _These two! Goodness! Caitlin and Iris were right about them!_ You have to cover your mouth at their antics in an attempt to push Harry to the limit of literally kicking them out of his house.

"May I remind you that I am your boss and that I can-"

" _Harry_ ," you say in a way that says 'play nice' and he instantly stops his threat. Everyone's eyes widen and they look at you as though they’ve just discovered that you have an incredible superpower.

Cisco points towards you with a smirk on his face, "Oh, you can stay, my friend!"

You finally let out burst of laughter, both at the reaction of the others and Harry's own expression.

"Alright, Buttercup, I'd love to stay and piss Harry off even more, but this sexy beast," Cisco points to himself with his thumbs, "has a hot date in about an hour or so."

Harry sighs, rolling his eyes as you start giggling in his arms. Barry snorts at his friend’s statement, Caitlin shakes her head, and Iris raises her eyebrows at Cisco, humouring him, "Sexy beast?"

"Yeah!"

"Ramon," Harry says.

"Uh huh?"

"Get out."

You stifle your amusement as Cisco turns to leave.

"Alright, I'm going, I'm going," he says, and everyone follows him to the door. You leave Harry's side in order to say goodbye to your new friends, giving both Caitlin and Iris a hug as they leave the house and thanking them for coming by.

Barry waves at you before taking Iris' hand and leads her to a car to go. Caitlin and Cisco pile into a second one, but as they cross the driveway, Cisco shouts out through the backseat window, "You two have fun tonight!" He gives you an exaggerated wink. Caitlin has to pull him back into the car to stop him causing anymore embarrassment.

You close the door with a red face, biting down on your bottom lip. _Cisco is such a troublemaker!_ As you turn around you collide into Harry’s solid chest, his hands automatically holding your waist to keep you steady. You look up at him and notice a hunger in his electric blue eyes.

You swallow a bit before shyly speaking up, "So, how was work?"

"Fine.” His answer is curt but with a gravelly tone, fingers lightly trailing over your curves almost tauntingly.

"Err... are you okay?" you ask hesitantly, seeing the way he's looking desperately at you.

"Wonderful... now that they're gone," he replies in a low voice as his mouth goes to your neck, placing hot, open-mouthed kisses to your skin.

"H-Harry… ohh..." you sigh, your eyes fluttering shut at his touch.

"Remember when I said that we'd finish what we started earlier?" he says, pulling back and raising an eyebrow at you.

"Yes..." You continue to nibble on your bottom lip. Your heart's thumping wildly in your chest.

"Well..." He gives you a wolfish smirk, playful eyes looking down at you as he sweeps you up. You squeak at the sudden movement and wrap your arms around his neck. "I haven’t stopped thinking about that all day… Now it’s time to have some fun," he whispers, proceeding to carry you up to the bedroom.

"You're unbelievable," you say with a shake of your head, but you can’t resist slanting your mouth against his. _He always tastes so good..._

Harry’s chuckling against your lips now that you’ve given in to him. He sets you down on the bed, pinning you to the mattress under him. You kiss him fervently, his hands on your hips as yours tangle in his dark hair. You sigh against his lips. He presses his body down against your form and you feel his growing excitement rise against you. Harry’s mouth moves down your neck as you let out pleased little noises when he reaches your most sensitive spots.

“I'm going deflower my little Flower," he jokes when he pulls away, looking down at you.

“I think you’ve already done that bit, Harry… ” you say while starting to feel a deep warming sensation on your face and prepare yourself for what Harry was about to do to you. His nimble fingers start to undo the buttons down your chest, planting a kiss to every new patch of skin he reveals until he can pull your shirt off completely. You pull him back in for another kiss while he softly caresses your bare skin.

You feel so fragile under his touch, his fingers lightly running over your blemish-free skin. His gruff, callousness contrasts with your purity. Levelling the playing field, Harry pulls his shirt up and over his head in one motion. Unaware you just licked your lips, you run your hands up his arms, resting them on his biceps, the muscle flexing under your touch.

Harry is quick to remove your pants next, never breaking eye contact while doing so. _Is it possible to spontaneously combust under a man’s gaze?_ He kisses his way down your body before gently sliding your panties down your legs, leaving goosebumps on your skin. He grins up at you before starting to place quick kisses to your inner thighs, occasionally nipping at your skin, leaving little red marks.

Your cheeks redden and you exhale his name, feeling yourself getting wetter with each kiss he places closer to your centre. Your heart beats wildly inside your chest. His dazzling blue eyes focus on you again, giving you that damn eyebrow raise at how wet you already are. You’re suddenly embarrassed at how easily your body reacts to him.

“Relax, Kitten,” he tells you in a silky voice, running his hands over your thighs, “just lie back and let me make you come.” Harry winks at you before lowering his head down to kiss your swollen clit.

If you thought Harry was skilled with his fingers, then it had nothing on his tongue. The feel of the way it enters you is unbelievable, and you think that the image of his head between your thighs, licking at your heat like it's what he was made to do, will be burned into your brain forever. He flicks you in just the right way as you buck your hips unintentionally and moan his name again. Your hand flies to his hair to hold him closer to you, desperate to feel everything you can from him because, God, he makes you feel like the luckiest woman alive.

“I just love your taste,” he says, “I could live on this alone.”

Then he growls, pulling your body closer and holding your hips up, smiling against your most sensitive flesh at your squirming. Harry starts humming pleased noises and swirls his tongue deep inside you, then switches to lightly nibble on your nub with his teeth and that drives you into a full-on frenzy. The sensation of him and only him floods through you. You arch your back, needing him to eat you more. To fully devour you.

“Oh God, Harry, please don’t stop!”

He works his tongue incessantly against your little bundle of nerves and it takes no time for you to come undone for him. You cry out, spilling your juices into his mouth as he sucks and laps up every last drop, licking his lips as he pulls away. He watches your chest rise and fall rapidly as you come back from your blissed-out state, looking down at him with a content smile. Harry kisses your folds one last time before moving up to kiss your parted lips.

"You taste so sweet," he mumbles against your lips, "Like candy."

When he pulls away, you think out loud, "I wonder what you taste like, then..."

"Is that a question you want an answer to now, baby?" he asks huskily with another couple of kisses to your jaw. You blush deeply at the meaning of his words, biting your lip as you weighed it up.

"Yeah," you whisper as he cups your red cheeks. "I-I want to try..."

Harry lets out an amused hum before pulling away to get a good look at you. You look up at him with determined eyes, but with a bit of shyness still present.

"Alright, Kitten, if that's what you want," Harry moves to sit back against the headboard and allows you to settle at your own pace between his legs. You unbuckle his belt with shaky hands, unzipping his pants.

He helps you to rid him of his pants, swiftly followed by his boxers and his erection springs free before you. You subconsciously lick your lips at the sight and the thought of having him in your mouth.

"It's okay, Flower," he says gently, stroking your cheek with his thumb, "just do what feels right."

Slowly, you lean down, placing a couple of kisses to the tip, before darting your tongue out and giving him a slow lick. Your eyes flick to his for approval and his head bobbles, already beginning to breathe heavily just at the sight of his usually very innocent little Flower going down on him.

You take a small breath before you start swirling your tongue around his tip. Harry lets out a content sigh at the feel of your tongue, his eyes watching your every movement. Right now, you were his sex Kitten wanting to play.

Feeling brave, you start to take him in your mouth.

_Dear God, he's so large._

"That's right, Flower, take it all in," he whispers breathlessly, running a hand through your hair. "Slow and steady, such a good girl."

His praise gives you a stroke of confidence and you begin to bob up and down on him, continuing to swirl your tongue around his length, spurred on by every little satisfied noise that leaves his lips.

"Mmm... good girl," he sighs, as you begin to up your pace for him. "Just like that. Your mouth is perfect. Like it was made for this."

He thrusts into your mouth, grunting as he does, hand still tangled in your hair.

You can tell by his noises that he's getting close already, so you start to hum around him, knowing that he did that to you. And he seems to like that a lot, letting out little moans of pleasure as his eyes shut tight.

"That's it, Flower. Ha, you're doing so g-good. My beautiful girl..." His moans motivate you to continue your stimulations. Licking and sucking, accidentally letting your teeth graze him.

“F-fuck…” Harry hisses as his heavy cock throbs and twitches in your mouth, about to spill his seed. He lets out a blissful moan as he comes, one hand stroking your hair as you swallow all of his release down before slowly removing your mouth from him and looking up at his content expression. He opens his eyes and looks at you, smirking a little as he lifts a hand and catches a drop of his come which was running down your chin, pushing it past your lips.

"So, do you have an answer to your question now, Flower?" he asks gently, as you gently suck his thumb clean and lie down next to him. You run your fingers over his toned chest before looking up at him. He raises an eyebrow, waiting.

"You taste like..." You look down in thought for a second before smiling up virtuously at him, "Vanilla!"

You both bear the expressions of trying to hold in your laughter at your absurd joke, but it’s too darn funny that you both start giggling. Howling until your stomachs and faces hurt, until you can’t breathe. Harry pulls you in closer to him, holding you tightly.

“How can you be so goddamn sexy one minute and adorably hilarious the next?” he asks rhetorically.

You don’t think you will ever tire of having Harry love you in this way. This is your only thought as you lie back against the pillows as Harry holds you in his arms. He tucks the sheets around you, gently caressing your bare skin as you look up at him and survey his content expression.

"So... everything went as you wanted it to today?" you ask curiously.

"Your first thought after fooling around is to ask me more about work?" he teases, raising his eyebrow.

"I'm just curious, okay?" you reply, hitting his arm lightly.

"Curiosity killed the Kitten," he says, pecking your lips. You press your chest close against his and run a finger down his arm. You bite your lip end up poking his arm, specifically his bulging bicep.

"Flower?"

"They're so big... How did you even get them like this?" you ask, looking up at him in awe, still poking the finely toned muscle. You’re so focused on his arm that Harry can’t help but give a toothy smile at your wonder. He sits up on the plush bed, pulling you into his lap and wrapping the sheets around you again so you won’t get cold. He takes your hand and rests it on one of his arms before flexing for you.

"I should have known that you weren't just a scientist," you tell him, running your fingertips across his skin, "no scientist needs muscles like this..."

He chuckles, keeping you distracted by showing them off for a few minutes before you look up at him seriously.

"I know you don't want me to ask many questions... but will you at least tell me why Caitlin looks like a less threatening version of Frost?"

You need to hear the truth from him.

"Caitlin is..." Harry looks up, avoiding your gaze with narrowed eyes, thinking of how to word this. He sighs before looking back down at you, "You know about the metahumans frequently popping up in the news?"

"Yeah?" You raise an eyebrow at him. _What does that have to do with...?_ "Harry, are you saying that Caitlin's a meta?" you ask, confused as hell because the media makes the metas out to be bottom line bad news. _But Caitlin's so sweet!_ And Frost, when you met her, seems like a total badass. Harry rubs the back of his neck.

"And Ramon. And Allen, and Iris' brother, but he's... out of town."

Your eyes go wide at his confession. The majority of your new friends are metahumans? None of them seem to be bad in any way... if you discounted this whole "other business" thing, of course.

"I don't understand... aren't metas considered to be the worst thing in this city?"

"People... fear what they don't understand. Metas are outcasts mainly... that's what draws them into my... sphere," Harry explains slowly, trying to give you your answers without giving too much more away.

"Your _sphere_?" you whisper, tilting your head a bit.

Harry swallows thickly, running his cool hands over the skin of your shoulder. He looks at you for a moment, lips pressed into a thin line.

"I help the metas because the government won’t. It’s a crime to be a metahuman, as I’m sure you’ve gathered. These people who don't want to use their powers or want to be in control them so as not to do accidental harm to others… they _need_ my help," he admits, avoiding your eyes thinking that you'll judge him for it all.

"So, you're doing more good than harm… But because you associate with metahumans, that’s why people don’t trust you… why they’re scared of you," you state more to yourself than him. He nods at your words.

"Yeah, technically, in a sense, we’re doing good." You both fall into a few seconds of silence, then you go to hug him tightly. “The authorities would beg to differ, though they haven't caught me yet.”

"You may not think so, Harry, but you're not as much of a bad man as you think," you say earnestly, kissing his collarbone lightly.

"Hearing that from you means more than I can say," he murmurs against your head, closing his eyes as he breathes you in. “But I doubt you’d find the rest of it so humanitarian…”

“I don’t care,” you reply. “I know you have a good heart, Harry Wells.”

You both lay there for a while, simply holding each other close.

"I love you so much," he breathes into your hair.

"I love you, too."


	9. Chapter 9

 

You end up spending four more days at Harry’s house while his guys put your apartment and shop back together for you. And true to his word, Harry pays for all the damages and replaces all of your ruined flowers with fresh stock, insisting that this was all his fault, no matter how many times you try to alleviate his guilt.

Both your places are fitted with increased security systems and Harry sets up part of his security team to monitor you specifically and on a much more regular basis, and after you’re given the all clear, you prepare to spend your last night living with Harry. At least for now.

It was a wonderful night. You and Harry eat dinner together, as has become the custom, before moving to the comfy sofas to watch a movie. Although, that doesn’t last particularly long thanks to Harry’s wandering hands and both of your desires to spend your last evening completely wrapped up in each other.

You now lie under the rich cotton sheets, fingertips tracing patterns over Harry’s chest as you often did after your love-making. Harry is propped up against the pillows, one arm behind his head while the opposite hand plays with your hair.

“This week… having you here, I couldn’t have imagined anything better,” Harry muses, breaking your comfortable silence and making you look up at him. “This house always was too big…”

You grin, placing a few kisses to his chest. “I’ve loved being here. You know, other than the reason for it in the first place.”

Harry pauses for a second before shifting himself from under you and reaches over to his bedside table. He then holds his closed fist over your open palm.

“I want you to have these.” You watch as he drops something cool into your hand. You look curiously at him before looking down and see that he's given you his dog tags which he almost always wore around his neck.

"Harry? What...?" you ask, glancing down and lightly gliding your fingers over his name on the cold metal. You stare up at him, confused by why he's giving such a personal item to you. Harry pulls you into his strong arms and pecks your lips.

"I want you to live with me," he confesses, eyes never leaving yours. He gauges your reaction closely. "It wouldn't be right if you left me in this house alone. It wouldn’t _feel_ right. I don't want to be without you again. And I know that this is really soon, but I don’t want to worry if you got home safely or whether or not you need any help if you’re here, lying right next to me."

“I- I don’t know what to say!” You’re so overwhelmed by the gesture, you had feared it would be too soon for him.

Apparently not.

“Say yes.”

“Yes, of course, Harry, I’ll live with you!” You place the dog tags around your neck, a symbol of your acceptance.

“I want these to be a reminder,” he says, holding the little plaques up to you, “that no matter what, I will always come back to you, after each and every day.”

"I believe that you will, Harry, and I will always be here waiting for you," you reply, leaning forward and hugging him tightly. Harry holds you in his arms then leans his head down to place a lingering kiss to your chest, just over your heart.

"I love you, Flower."

"I love you too," you grin and kiss his forehead. "You've captured my heart, Harrison Wells."

Harry pulls back to look at you, love swimming in his ocean-blue eyes. He takes your hand and places it over where his heart is - where his bullet scar is. His hand presses down on yours to allow you to feel his heartbeat. "My heart will beat for you and only you, my precious Flower."

Your hand lingers there for a moment once he removes his hand from yours, still tracing over the scar.

"Harry? How did you... get this?" His face momentarily turns to stone as if the memories of how the scar came to be are flooding back to him. "Harry?" you ask with concern at the dramatic change. You worry now that you've ruined the entire moment. "I'm sorry, you don’t have to-"

"It's… okay, Flower," he replies, taking your hand and holding it like you could anchor him to the here and now.

"I..." Harry shakily starts, glancing away and taking a breath before looking at you. You give him a small encouraging smile, squeezing his hand in reassurance. "I got it back when I had been drafted into the army. It was the War of the Americas. Not that long ago, now that I think about it. That's when I met Allen and Ramon, just young boys fighting. Annoying at first, but they grew on me. They helped me back then when things got rough, watching my back and I watched out for them as their higher ranked officer. But then one night… the enemy had us surrounded outside our tents. They were getting closer by the second. There were four of them. I woke up Allen and Ramon, our guns ready for an ambush. We signed to each other which ones we would take out on the count of three, leaving us with the final enemy wildcard. We each took our shots, but then the wildcard was aiming at Ramon, and well...”

"You went in between them? You saved his life?" you fill in for him. Harry rubs the back of his neck.

"Yeah... and then Allen took down the final guy, though I don't remember any of that. I just remember waking up in the medical centre four days later. They said the surgery was tough. My heart stopped for a full minute at one point..."

At this point, tears are brimming your eyes as you look up at your man.

"That's when we met Snow, the prodigal doctor on the front lines. She saved my life... And here we all are." His eyes soften at you as he wipes your tears away. The whole story makes your heart ache. The fact that he could've died before you even met each other? It hurts because you don't know what you would do if you hadn't met him. You don’t meet Harry’s eyes. Instead, you stare at the scar, at the painful memories that the mark will always bring him.

"Hey, it’s okay,” he reassures. “I'm here now. With you. Nothing's going to take me away from you." He plants tiny kisses to your lips to cheer you up, to at least lighten the mood. You cuddle against his chest and wrap your arms around his middle as you lean against him. "It’s in the past, Kitten. I told you that when you asked about it the first time. You wouldn't catch me taking a bullet for Ramon these days anyway. He got much more annoying," he jokes and you let out a small involuntary laugh. "I learnt how to be more careful, so please don't worry. A promise is a promise."

"Don't you dare ever leave me," you mumble into his chest.

"That's the last thing I’d ever want to do." Harry lets out a small hum as he kisses the top of your head and runs his hands through your hair. You calm down a bit, feeling relieved that he's safe and here with you.

“Harry? I want to know everything about you. Good, bad, in between. Past and present. I’m not going to turn away from you when you tell me about yourself. I never would. _Please_ don’t keep me in the dark with these kinds of things. I don’t want there to be any secrets kept between us. Okay?”

Harry inhales deeply, then gives a small tired smile.

“Alright,” he agrees with a sigh. “Starting tomorrow, we’ll tell each other everything.”

“No secrets?”

“No secrets.”

After a few minutes in his hold, you crawl back into a position on the bed that you can sleep in and Harry wraps his arms around you again to spoon you once you're settled.

"Goodnight, my Flower," he says in an almost whisper as he kisses the top of your head. "I'm right here."

 

***

 

Your nails clack on the kitchen table as you wait to hear what Harry has agreed to disclose to you. This was it - the moment he tells you the truth about his _other_ business. You half wonder if this was a good idea after all.

He’s just staring at you.

“So…?” you start.

“So…” _He’s stalling._

“Why don’t I go first, then?” you offer to break the ice. He makes a gesture as if to say, _by all means._

“Okay, well, I used to work in Coast City at the hospital’s gift and flower shop.”

“Why does that not surprise me?”

You smile and shake your head. “Anyway, after about a couple months, one of the doctors started taking a liking to me.” You see Harry shift in his seat. Even though this is all in the past, your boyfriend seems to be getting jealous at the mention of someone else having been interested in you.

“He earned far more than any other doctor there and had made a name for himself. To be honest, I’m not sure if that all went to his head or if he was already like that. Everyone wanted something from him. Advice, his money… _him._ Except me. It’s like he saw me as a challenge or something. For the longest time, I didn’t even realize he was coming on to me! He’d come by the gift shop in his free moments to chat me up…”

Harry glares across the room, staring at nothing. It must be bothering him to know that someone had been doing the same thing he had.

“He asked me out to dinner one day when I was in the courtyard garden, but I turned him down. I had heard how he’d treat the other doctors, nurses, and really women in general. I wanted nothing to do with him, though I didn’t _say_ that.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Harry finally speaks up. You smile uncomfortably. “That’s… not it, is it?”

“I’m afraid not,” you sigh. “On a separate occasion, he cornered me in the hallway as I was leaving for the evening. No one was around. He asked me out to drinks this time, but when I said ‘no’...”

“Oh God, Flower, no…”

“It’s okay, Harry. I mean, it’s _not_ okay; he was rough with me. So I kneed him in the groin and ran.”

“Good.”

“Over the course of the following week, all the nurses and doctors were treating me differently, looking at me strangely. I had no idea what was going on until I walked by one of the nurses and she called me a ‘slut’ loudly to her colleague. That’s when I learned that he had spread rumours about me. And him.”

“ _What_?”

“Yeah. How I was sleeping with him for his money and power. Which is ridiculous because I hadn’t even… _you know_ ! _Argh_! It was awful! I was treated like dirt, both out of other people’s judgement and their jealousy that I’d supposedly managed to get what they couldn’t. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I quit and decided to start my own business. A fresh start in a whole other place.”

You look down at the table and play with your fingers before continuing. “I was a little… _apprehensive_ when you came along…”

Harry’s gaze falls on you as you press your lips together.

“Another rich, powerful man coming and chatting with me whenever he could? It struck a little close to home. But I instantly knew that you were different and I couldn’t be happier that you came into my life, Harry. You are wonderful, the complete opposite…” You move over to Harry, sit in his lap and kiss his forehead. “And the rest is history.”

Harry takes your hand in his.

“I’m glad you told me this, Flower. Thank you.”

“I just felt you deserved to know how I ended up here. Now it’s your turn.”

He rubs his face with his other hand. “I don’t even know where to start…”

“Why don’t you start at the very beginning? How did you get involved with the metahumans?”

Harry takes a deep breath.

“I was just curious at first… the metahumans were a new, exciting potential for scientific advancement. I got permission and funding from massive corporations’ scientific divisions such as Stagg Industries to research them, look at their powers and genetics, and develop enhancements for technology from them. But they quickly started showing themselves in the city, attacking people and causing havoc and they were suddenly deemed, not a scientific miracle, but a threat. A crime. And then in an instant - the money was gone and I was told to drop the whole thing. I shouldn’t have been associating with criminals. But we were _so close_ to a breakthrough and I _couldn’t_ stop there!”

You squeeze his hand to encourage him to continue.

“I’d had an idea for a serum, it would dampen the powers of anyone who took it, meaning that people with the more volatile gifts wouldn’t have to keep hurting people when they lost control. It requires a daily dose to keep the powers suppressed, though I’ve been trying to make something that lasts longer, but that’s the best I’ve managed to do so far. But for the _metacine,_ as Ramon likes to call it, the components are highly valuable and controlled and I’d lost my suppliers when I lost my funding. So, when I refused to drop it, I had to look _elsewhere_ …”

“A black market?”

“Yeah. That’s when I first met Oliver Queen. He assured me he could get me what I needed and have it brought straight into Central City docks. So I started buying up property as an additional source of revenue to pay for everything he was offering. We began a good partnership. He sold me what I needed and in turn, I started supplying him and his _gang_ with… weaponry that we’d been developing at the Labs.

“Pretty soon, we had a successful system going, and as more shipments came in, I started to recruit people of my own to protect them. People from the criminal underworld were asked to join and even began volunteering and before I knew it, I had my own group of loyal people who would guard the deliveries and get them to the Labs in one piece. That led to my _reputation_ because I don’t take kindly to those who try to hijack my shipments or take a cut for themselves. I’ve had to deal with internal traitors and rival groups… People only cross me once.”

You are well aware of what the people of this city say about him. _A force to be reckoned with…_ Harry holds you a little tighter to him.

“And as things got bigger and the metacine actually started to work and we had people wanting to come to us, well… More shipments required more people. More people, more weapons. Everything expanded. And now, I can help those who need it, but gain more profit and fall deeper into the darkness and illegality at the same time. It’s like I’m trapped in a vicious circle.”

“Baby, I’m... sorry.”

“It’s fine, Flower, I’m so used to it all now. It’s my life. _You’re_ my life.”

“And you’re mine.”

Harry pauses. “There’s one more thing.”

You rest your hand on his shoulder. “What is it?” Whatever it is, it looks like it’s visibly hurting him inside.

“I… I was the one who created the metas.”

“I’m sorry, w-what?”

“ _I_ did it. _I_ set off the explosion that created the metahumans. They reported it as a gas leak in one of our facilities in the end, but it wasn’t, it was an experiment gone wrong... I never… I never meant for that to happen and now I’ve destroyed countless lives! I’ve killed so many innocent people and turned many more into being feared by the public! Feared by the government! It kills me every day, (Y/N). That’s why the metacine is so important. It’s my way of helping, of apologizing, though I know it will never, _ever_ be enough.” You can feel the turmoil going on inside him. _How does he deal with this on a daily basis?_ “You know I couldn’t sleep after it happened? Not until you.” You aren’t quite sure what to say to make him feel better. It’s such a heavy burden he’s had to bear all this time.

“Well, I’m glad I could help in some little way.” He’s not looking at you, but rather at the kitchen table. You take his chin in your hand and get him to look into your eyes. “But thank you for opening up to me, Harry. And I want you to know it does _not_ , in _any_ way, make me love you any less.”

“You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that.” Harry nuzzles into the side of your neck and you hold him close.

“You’re a brave man, Harrison Wells.”

“Only because of you.”


	10. Chapter 10

 

It doesn’t even feel like you and Harry have been together for five months. Instead, it feels both like it was just yesterday you met and as if you’ve known him your entire life.

Over the next few weeks, you start moving your things into Harry’s house, getting comfortable in this new arrangement. This is by far the most serious relationship you’ve ever had and moving in with Harry was a big step, but one that you were incredibly willing to make.

The day after he’d asked you, Harry cleared half of his suit-filled walk-in closet for you to use so that his tailored jackets and silk shirts now hung opposite your clothes that you’d brought over, and some that Harry had bought for you as a ‘moving in gift’. Even this relatively small gesture made your heart soar and you ended up giving Harry a huge bear hug to show your appreciation which made Harry smile broadly too.

To say you two were in the honeymoon phase of your relationship was an understatement. Everything between you was effortless, and you feel high on love. His love. And Harry has so much to give.

In fact, your relationship had progressed even further - around the same time as your moving in. When Harry first brought up the idea about ditching the condoms during sex, you couldn’t deny you were a little startled and embarrassed at the thought. You had supposed it made sense, though. You were in a committed relationship, and with the added gift of heightened pleasure of skin on skin for you both, it was definitely up for discussion. Harry grinned like a madman when you reminded him that you hadn’t been sexually active with another man before him, evidently relishing in that fact. But his good mood hadn’t stopped you from fidgeting when you confessed that you would like a test to determine that you were _both_ healthy. You knew he hadn’t been in a _relationship_ for a while, but you didn’t know if he’d taken any lovers before you, but he agreed eagerly, putting your peace of mind to the top of his priorities, and the day after your awkward but informative talk about protection, you both went to get tested.

You had already started taking birth control pills since before Harry had first told you he loved you when the pair of you were becoming serious. You wanted to be prepared just in case. And when your tests came back issuing both clean bills of health, it was mutually decided the latex protection would no longer be needed in the bedroom.

Or literally anywhere else, for that matter.

And oh _Lord,_ were you glad you both decided to do this because after testing out the new sensation of Harry’s hard, bare cock sliding into you, you finally knew now the meaning of ecstasy. You and Harry were sure to repeatedly test this revelation over the course of the weeks of moving you into his place in a steamy, intense love romp.

At present, Harry is having a post-sex shower as you browse your enormous walk-in closet of its seemingly endless articles of clothing gifted to you by him. They range from sweet and demure to dangerously sexy and scant. You still haven’t tried on the latter pieces yet. Those ones still make your heart race

About to emerge from the grandiose walk-in closet in a more modest-looking black nightgown, you stop short at something catching your eye.  
You notice a small picture frame peeking out from one of Harry’s drawers that isn’t fully closed. Your hands move of their own accord and reach for the frame to help you get a better look at the person in the photo. It’s a young girl. She looks to be around twelve years old at the most. Her hair is a dark curly brown, wild and in her face as if she’d been running. Rosy cheeks, a little button nose, and beautiful green eyes.

“Um, Harry?” you call towards to the bathroom.

“Hmm?” He walks out of the ensuite while towelling his wet locks. You turn the photo to face him.

“Who is this?”

“Oh…” Harry says awkwardly while scratching his head.

“Oh? I find a picture of a little girl you’ve never mentioned before in your drawer and all you have to say is ‘oh’? Harrison, I thought we promised each other no more secrets between us…?” He stands there a moment longer as if thinking of what to say next.

“(Y/N), why don’t you sit down?” You frown and press your lips together, but take his suggestion and sit on the bed. Harry does the same, taking the frame from you and not taking his eyes off the photograph.

“This is my daughter,” he says, now handing it back over to you. “Her name is Jesse. She’s the brightest person I’ve ever known and I’m nothing but proud.”

“How old is she?” you ask quietly.

“Jesse’s eighteen now and she can be a bit headstrong and stubborn, but she undoubtedly got that from me.” Harry blows air out through his nose in a small laugh. The way he looks when he talks about her… You wonder why he never has.

“Why was this hiding in your drawer?” you ask.

“I wasn’t hiding her from _you_ if that’s what you’re thinking.” Remaining silent, you let him continue, “We had an argument a long time ago. Well, arguments _plural_. Jesse planned to go off with West’s boy. To travel or something of the sort. She got the wandering from her mother… my late-wife.”

“Harry, I’m-”

He waves you off. “Cancer. Jesse was six. It was a rough time. I was fighting in South America when she passed and Detective West took Jesse in while I was away. It wasn’t much longer after that I returned home. But, I digress. I wasn’t having my daughter run off to God knows where with the West boy, so I told her she couldn’t. That it wasn’t safe for her to leave. But did she listen?”

“No?”

“No. That’s exactly right. After that, I couldn’t bear to stare at the picture of my little girl anymore without feeling _too much_. I didn’t want to think about what I’d lost to the unknown, so I hid it away.”

“But she’s fine, right? There’s nothing to worry about? She’s a Wells after all.”

“I wouldn’t know. I haven’t heard from her since that day. Over a year ago.”

_He hasn’t seen his own daughter in over a year?_

You remain quiet and look down at your twiddling thumbs.

“My... my late-wife had to convince me to have a child, you know?” Harry continues to confess. “I was too preoccupied at the time to even consider it, bettering myself in the field of scientific advancements. But she had her ways of convincing me. And when it happened, when Jesse was finally born, she was my _life_. She was so tiny and had these enormous eyes. Quick learner, too. I couldn’t wait until she was old enough to teach her everything I knew. To bounce these theories I always have off of her. Maybe even to work alongside her one day. But that was the thing... she did get old enough. She did grow older, and soon, I didn’t want her to anymore. Things were so much easier when she was small and wide-eyed and didn’t have this insatiable need to gallivant across North America with some boy without bothering to call me back-”

You put a hand on his arm.

“-Harry.”

“Sorry. But _God_ , what I wouldn’t give to savour the time I had with her when she was younger instead of...”

“Wishing for her to grow up?” Harry nods. This obviously isn’t easy to talk about for him. As he said, Jesse is his life. She’s all he had left after his wife passed. It’s understandable that he would cling to her like his life depended on it.

“I just wish you had told me about her,” you say, leaning into him to snuggle. “Anyone that’s important to you is important to me.”

“I know,” he agrees. “I’m sorry. And maybe subconsciously I didn’t want to scare you away with the fact that I had a daughter.”

“You think that would have scared me? Oh, Harry… Never. After all I’ve learned about you? I’m. Still. Here.”

“You are.” Harry holds you close. “You are still here and most of the time I still can’t believe it.”

“Believe it, Mister. And I am _not_ going anywhere.”


	11. Chapter 11

 

Living with Harry had been like a dream come true. When you’d first moved in, you’d been able to spend so much more time together than just when you were dating which was refreshing for the both of you.

But as the honeymoon period of your relationship begins to come to an end, you realize that living with Harry wasn’t  _ always _ as perfect as you’d thought it would be. 

Harry seemed to be getting more and more busy with work which was beginning to take its toll on you both.

You are well aware that Harry is a busy man and keeps strange hours when it comes to the office, but you had never really thought that he’d want to spend more time there than with you. Caitlin and Iris had told you on one of your girly lunch outings that Harry was  _ choosing _ to work this much and you find yourself feeling a little put out.

Perhaps that was a selfish thought, considering all the good you knew he was doing, but it was a hard thing to come to terms with.

Harry didn’t offer up much in the way of explanation either, other than ‘work’ in general, when you swapped stories about your days. 

You were starting to wonder whether the novelty of having you in his life had started to wear off and that Harry was now… bored of your company.

The more time you spend by yourself after work, the more time your thoughts have to swirl in your head, making you doubt every little thing that you had been so sure of.

After you finish eating dinner one evening, alone yet again, and head upstairs to shower and change, you start to develop a pain in your head that turns into a full-blown headache as you throw Harry’s dress shirt over your shoulders and button it up.

Putting it down to a lack of water that day, you pour yourself a glass and then go about finding some painkillers for some more immediate relief. You could have sworn you had some paracetamol left in what was now your bedside cabinet, but after rooting around in the drawers, you don’t find it.

“Hm,” you huff quietly to yourself, glancing around the room for another place to search. Your gaze instantly goes to the other side of the bed.  _ Maybe Harry has some… _

Taking a seat on the edge of his side of the bed, you open his top drawer and carefully start to move things in search of the medication. You push aside a few letters, revealing a couple of condom packets which makes you shake your head a little, but nothing that looks like it’s going to relieve your current suffering. But as you put everything back where it was, you notice a little black box at the back that you’d previously overlooked.

You know you shouldn’t go snooping through Harry’s belongings, but there’s something about this particular item that makes you take it from its hiding place and open it.

And you gasp when you see what is inside.

Three pairs of panties are neatly folded in it, one black sheer-lace pair, one pair which is dark charcoal grey with little ribbons on the sides and one white pair with satin ribbons criss-crossing over the back and tied in a bow.

But the reason you had gasped is because none of them are  _ yours. _

Holding the fabric in your fingers seems to send you into some sort of spiral. It’s already getting unusually late, Harry is nowhere to be seen, and now you that you begin to think about it -  this isn’t even the first time he’s been  _ this  _ late.

And finding these? Just the presence of these items is starting to add to your underlying suspicions as to why.

You've never had reason to doubt him. He's always charming and attentive with you, and you hate even to contemplate it, but could he be applying his charm elsewhere?

All those calls and texts at all hours of the day and night were not helping your theory either. There were far too many only to be ‘work.’  _ What if he hasn’t told me  _ everything _? _

"Don't overthink it," you whisper, your fingers fidgeting with the sleeves of your, well,  _ Harry’s _ shirt. "Bad things happen when you overthink things." You swallow hard as your mind betrays you and thinks about him possibly sneaking off to be with a mistress - someone that's more on his level - as if your existence in his life is only for show.

You need to confront him because like _hell_ you were going to take being treated this way if it is indeed the truth. You need answers.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, you wait for him to come home. And as every minute ticks by, you become more and more paranoid, imagining him in scenarios where he’s screwing another woman up against his desk in his office or off in a hotel room downtown. You know you’re not helping anyone by doing so, but you cannot help the thoughts swirling around in your head.

When the clock shows you it’s three in the morning, you finally think you hear Harry’s car pull up in the driveway. You get up from your seat on the bed, standing up tall and wait for him to make his way upstairs. It only takes another minute or two for the door handle to turn and Harry enters the room, looking exhausted, but his eyes widen when he sees you.   


"Flower? Why... why are you still awake?"

_ Be straight to the point, _ you think. Your eyes had lit up when you saw him, but can you blame yourself? This is the man that you love.

_ I’m not some airhead that he can use and lie to. _

Your thoughts encourage you to take in a breath through your nose and don a frown again, which causes Harry to knit his brow in confusion. You cross your arms.

"Are you cheating on me?"

“ _ What _ ?” he says incredulously. “Why the hell would you ask me that? Where is this coming from?”   


“You didn’t answer my question,” you notice, which alone begins to kindle your anger.   


“Is that what you think of me?”

_ Still not answering. _

"Well it's not what I want to believe, but what am I meant to think, Harrison? It’s three a.m. and you’re only just coming home!" You're shouting now, all this repressed anger and worry bubbling up to the surface. Your insecurities are taking over. "What number is this, five? Six times you’ve come home in the middle of the night? And then there are these!”

You hold up the black pair of panties between the two of you before furiously tossing them to the side. “Are they like,  _ trophies  _ to you or something?”

“That’s not what you think-” he tries, holding his hands up and attempting a more level tone, possibly in an attempt to calm yours down, but you’re not having it.

“I let you go without protection when we’re together, and this is how you repay me?! I know I'm not exactly  _ experienced _ when it comes to the bedroom, but that doesn't mean that you have the right to find pleasure somewhere else!"

"Okay, first of all, stop blowing things out of proportion. I come home late all the time because of  _ work _ ." Harry narrows his eyes at your smaller frame, and you let out a sarcastic puff of air at the last word. You can tell that he knows you’re not going to back down, so neither is he. His temper seems to be climbing fast now, to maximum overload at your accusations. 

"Second, I don't need to deal with being accused of shit I _didn't_ _do_. I come home at the end of the night straight from the company, don't I?" He moves closer to you, clenching his jaw as his eyes gaze down dangerously at you - a storm about to hit.  


"So, not only are you cheating on me, but it’s with someone from the company?" you cry, stabbing a finger to his chest when he gets close enough to you then press your lips together. Your earlier thoughts about this scenario come back to the surface in horrific clarity.

He grabs your wrist tightly and pulls you closer to him.   


“I. Am not.  _ Cheating _ ,” he growls at you, seething. “Don’t you know how much I love you?!”

"Apparently not enough to get you to come home to me!" you hiss back because this realization hurts you. This new living arrangement, where you share the same house, was meant to help you spend time together and yet now you barely see him. For a while, it’s been less than when you still lived separately.   


You stand there toe to toe with each other for just a second, chests heaving with your boiling rage and Harry stares you down.   


And then, without warning, his lips are on yours. Both his hands grasp your face tightly as you take a sharp breath in surprise at the abrupt contact. The small breath you take allows Harry to shove his tongue into your warm, wet mouth as if wanting nothing more than to devour you. To prove everything to you.    


You ball up your fists and hit his chest in frustration, still pissed at him, but it soon dies down as you start to succumb to his sinful lips.

You find yourself attacking his mouth with your own, hands sliding up to his hair to grasp it. Harry corners you, pushing you up against the wall and slamming his palm next to your head. Your tongues clash with one another, almost as though you were carrying on your argument, only with a lot fewer words. One of your legs wraps around Harry's to pull him closer, and you tug forcefully on his hair. Being this rough is so unlike you, but you weren't going to let him forget your anger.

Harry's other hand rests on the curve of your back, pressing your body closer to him, but it doesn't stay there. It trails its way down to squeeze your ass, erupting a moan from your throat. Harry sucks on your lower lip, grinding himself hard against you. But you then take  _ his  _ lips in your teeth and reach down to palm him hard. Whether he’s been cheating or not, this is all yours. His hand now finds the waistband of your panties from underneath your long shirt. His eyes flash you a deadly look, making you hold your breath. That’s when he rips the thin lacy fabric from your body, causing you to gasp at the tearing.   


Harry swiftly picks you up, and your legs wrap around his waist. You can feel how hard he is through his pants. He has your body pinned between his chest and the wall, heavy breaths leaving you both as you continue to lock lips with him.   


You let out a mewl when Harry captures your mouth in a particularly hard kiss. Oh, it’s so difficult to keep being angry with him when he's rutting against you like this.   


"You stubborn -  _ ah _ ! -infuriating man," you manage to get out against his lips as your hands find his belt.   


"And I am  _ all yours _ . I'm going to show you I am all yours." His voice rumbles, which sends pleasurable vibes straight to your already dripping centre. “This is what my love feels like, Flower,” he continues, grinding himself harder against you, pushing you into the wall. “ _ No one else  _ gets to feel this.”

"H-Harry," you whisper, fingers finishing with his belt before you undo his zipper and push his pants down over his hips, just the light fabric of his boxers between you. You hold his face away from yours so you can get a good look at him, and pull him closer with your legs. Watching his expression, you roll your hips to create more friction between you. God, he looks magnificent in this moment, and you hope to be the  _ only  _ woman ever to see him like this for the rest of your lives. 

Your back is starting to hurt from being picked up and pressed into the wall by him, but damn is it worth it. 

In a huff, Harry pushes down his pants a little further, along with his boxers, enough to reveal his cock. You cast your gaze downwards, then up to stare into his narrowed blue eyes. Harry dives in to claim your mouth again.

One of your hands rests on his shoulder for support, but the other tugs harshly on his hair, which causes him to growl. He grabs your wrist again and pins your arm above your head as he bites at your lips.

You feel him use his other hand to line himself up to you and then pushes himself roughly past your folds in a move that lets you feel all his built up passion.

"Mm-" you groan into the kiss, arching your back from against the wall. Harry's lips twitch up into a smirk and doesn't waste any time, not allowing you to adjust to his size, either. Instead, he pulls all the way out only to slam his pulsating cock back inside of you, hitting your g-spot with full force. His merciless thrusts elicit the impurest of sounds from you, borderline pornographic with the way he grinds himself deep inside of you.   


You can tell he wants you to feel him, all of his frustration and aggression from your accusations. You know he’s right to be angry because at this moment you know that he isn’t sleeping around. You couldn’t have sex this intense if he wasn’t just as pent-up as you.

“Don’t you get it?” Harry says through his teeth. “You’re the only one I see. The only one I ughh- n-need.” He buries his face in the crook of your neck where you feel his erratic and hot breath heat you up even more. He lets go of your wrist to grip your hips instead, watching you writhe in front of him as he fucks you roughly.

“Ah-ah-ahhh-” The tensions between you are now all culminating between your legs. There’s no way you can hold on any longer with the way he’s fucking you.

You arch your back and press your chest into his as you come hard with a cry, the back of your head hitting the wall.   


"Ahh- YesyesIgetit! I get it!"   


Harry rapidly succumbs to the feeling of you losing yourself and comes inside of you with a guttural groan. Your fingernails claw at his back throughout your orgasm, feeling him spill his hot seed inside of you. Thrown into some sort of limbo, your chest heaves as you take in sharp breaths to calm yourself.

“You are perfect,” he whispers against your swollen lips. “Why would I want to go near another woman when I can watch you come like that?”

You can feel your combined releases drip out from you when Harry pulls out, and in a much more gentle move, he silently whisks you over to the bed and lies you down.

"I love you," he mumbles tiredly, tracing his fingers up your body as he kisses your forehead. "I love you so much," he echoes again, placing small kisses on your face, waiting for you to open your eyes.

They open slowly and instantly focus on him.

Never again will you doubt him or his love for you.

“I’m sorry...” you say. “I didn’t mean... I was just...”   


“I know,” he says as if reading your mind. “I never want you to doubt what we have or how much I love you.”   


“I won’t,” you promise. “I won’t anymore.”

Harry kicks his pants off the remaining way and takes his jacket and shirt off, lying down naked next to you in bed. You immediately curl into his side, just wanting to be close to him now.   


"I'll make sure to get away from work earlier in future... it'll give us some more time together, and we can avoid  _ this _ ." He gestures between you both. “It’s been so long since I’ve had someone to come home to that I forget that you’re waiting, so I’m… I’m sorry too.”

"I just want to see you,” you say gently. He takes one of your hands in his and twines your fingers together. “I do really love you."    


"I love you too, Flower, and don't you ever forget it."

You hum at his words, his arms pulling you close to his warm chest. You’re both quiet for a moment before you let out a little laugh.

“I really liked those panties you destroyed…” you say with an amused glance up at him. He hums, rubbing your arm.

“I’ll buy you some more,” he replies. “In fact, I already had; that box was for you. It was a gift.”

You turn bright red at this new piece of information. How could you have got it so wrong? “Harry, oh my God, I’m so sorry-”

“Don’t be, Flower. You were right about the distance between us. Though, I’m not complaining about how it ended up going…” he says, glancing down at you with his hair sticking up in odd directions from your angry fuck fest.

Your cheeks remain incredibly heated, but you can’t deny that that was the best sex you’d ever had together.

"And for the record," he interjects, interrupting your thoughts, "It doesn’t matter if you’re experienced or not. What really matters to me is that you’re  _ you _ and here by my side. But…” He weaves his fingers through your hair.   


"But?"

"It also means I get to teach you everything I know."


	12. Chapter 12

 

When you arrive at S.T.A.R. Labs the next afternoon, each and every crew member you meet on your way up to Harry’s office nods hello to you. Some even speak the greeting followed by a “ma’am.” Such nice men work for your boyfriend. You carry the bundle of purple and azure balloon flowers a little closer to your chest, excited to see his face at your surprise visit. Just a little token that represents your ‘endless love’ after your misunderstanding the previous night.

After the elevator ride up, it’s just a short walk down the corridor to his office. But the closer you get, the louder a voice carries.

“-Let him get away?! I have half a mind to rip your fucking arms off if you think you’re suited to be apart of my team!”

Your heart drops.

_That’s Harry’s voice…_

He continues to berate the poor victim and you can only imagine the horror taking place in the room. You’ve not seen or heard this side of Harry before. You didn’t know he was capable of such hostility... There’s a sudden crash on the other side of the door as if something was thrown with great force.

“Get out of my sight, you worthless piece of-” The office door swings open, the sufferer of Harry’s wrath marching away from the scene, now leaving you in plain view of the CEO. His face is furiously red and you wouldn’t be surprised if steam really was coming out of his ears. “-(Y/N)...”

You don’t even know what to say right now.

“I thought I’d surprise you…”

“Come in.” He ushers you inside. You take a few unsure steps. When he closes the door, he asks, “So, um, exactly how much of that did you hear?”

Your eyes shift to the floor. “Quite enough.”

His gaze goes everywhere but to you right now as his hand flies up to rub the back of his neck. “I run a tight ship here, (Y/N), and sometimes the pressure is mounting and… well… sometimes _that_... happens. But people who can’t do their jobs are no use to me.”

“Yeah… I can understand that, it’s just that… well, I didn’t know you had _that_ kind of a temper.”

Looking back on all of the rumours whispered about him throughout the city and the successful position he sits in, maybe you shouldn’t have been as surprised as you were. You were sure that he had to have used at least some level of intimidation and scare tactics to get to where he was, but you’d never really imagined it because he’s been nothing but charming and sweet to you. And perhaps you hadn’t thought there was any truth to the rumours because of that, so you’d written them all off, not considering that maybe the basic points could have been built on truth.

Harry looks cautious and a little embarrassed. “I haven’t… I haven’t scared you, have I?” he asks hesitantly.

“No, Harry, you could never scare me. I understand.”

“Oh… good, then.” He shakes his head and brings his attention to the bouquet in your hands. “These are gorgeous! You brought them for me?”

You nod, smiling at seeing the Harry you know resurface again. You hand off the flowers to him and can’t help but bend down to pick up the shattered white ceramic mug that he had clearly thrown in his outburst.

“Flower, you don’t-”

“-I know.” It would bother you having a mess on the floor anyway and as if Harry would clean it up himself. “Just don’t make any more messes for me to clean up, Mister.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he says with a humbled smile. You smile back and go about finding a vase for the flowers.

“How’s your day so far?” Harry asks, coming over to you when you find a suitable enough tall glass to place the stems into it.

“Not as chaotic as yours, I don’t think,” you tell him with a little chuckle, filling the glass with water from one of the bottles that sat on his large work table. “Remind me to bring you an actual vase at some point too.”

“Noted,” he says before taking the makeshift vase from your hands and placing it in pride of place on his desk which makes your heart swell. “Could I possibly treat you to lunch?”

Your smile drops a little. “I’m sorry, Harry, I wish I could but this is a flying visit. I have a bride coming in half an hour to pick up all of her wedding flowers. It’s a huge commission.”

He looks a little put out, but understanding, placing his palm against your cheek which you then hold your own hand over. “My busy little Flower,” he muses. “I might be a little late tonight… I now have something to clean up that I didn’t anticipate.”

“Okay. You know I’ll be there,” you reply before leaning up to kiss him goodbye. The kiss is delicate, reassuring for both of you that you’re still on the same page. “See you later.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

You start to walk out of the room and Harry only lets your hand drop when your arms are fully extended and you’re disappearing past the doors.

 

* * *

 

As weeks pass and you spend more time with Harry, coming home to each other every night, you begin to notice a lot of his little cues and indications as to his mood. And soon enough, you’re able to tell when he has had a good day or when he was stressed out to the point of throwing things and learn how to deal with him in each scenario.

For instance, when he's had a good day at work - a successful day - he comes home with a tiny, proud smile. He’s the definition of cheerful. Either pleased that one of his projects for S.T.A.R. Labs has successfully reached its prototype stage, blueprints for a specific design are now in development, or his men have concocted another successful batch of metacine to either help metas who seek aid or detain the berserk ones wreaking havoc on the city.

His city.

When he's in a bad mood, however, well, he gets frustrated, aggravated, or sometimes a bit... _frisky_.

Today, he’s had one of his bad days. When Harry first came home, he went directly to his office in the west wing of the house and closed the door, presumably to stress himself out even more with excess work.

You stand in the kitchen wondering whether you should go and try to find out what's wrong or just leave him to deal with what is bothering him in peace. You don't think he'd necessarily mind you being there as he always loves seeing you, but frustrated Harry's responses were always difficult to judge.

Like the one time you quietly walked into his workshop, standing in the doorway and finding it a dreadful mess, with papers and tools littering the tiled ground. All you heard were his maddened sighs and then decided to leave him to his work. You didn't want to irk or distract him even more.

But then there was the other time only about a week ago when you were cooking dinner and he came home... well, frustrated in the guise of horniness. You were just about done, going to get the plates when Harry hugged you from behind, whispering in a deep tone in your ear that he'd rather eat you instead.

Neither of you ate dinner that night, or left the bedroom at all, as a matter of fact.

So, in between throwing objects across the room in anger or ravaging you until his mind (and coincidentally, yours) has been cleared of any thoughts at all, it was always a gamble at how to handle him. Which is why you’re placing all your bets on the latter tonight.

You chew on your lip as you try to come up with some sort of plan. He generally comes to seek you out when he needs to let out his tension, but nothing says you can't go to him with that proposition… Being a distraction for him right now would definitely be the best way to make him feel better about whatever problem is currently plaguing him.

A light bulb goes on in your head. You shuffle your way to your shared room, heading to your walk-in closet full of new adorable and stylish outfits Harry has bought you.

"No... no," you mumble, starting to fish through your clothes, looking for something in particular. Something special. "Where is it?"

After a couple more minutes of searching, you finally find it. "Aha, here it is!" What you hold between your fingers is one of the first (of many) things that Harry had purchased for you since you moved in - lingerie he handpicked himself for you. Black and lacy, just how he likes it on you, he once said after you tried it on shyly for the very first time.

A cheeky smile works its way onto your face as you change into it, fitting you perfectly and showing your figure off beautifully. It leaves very little to the imagination and you could never have _dreamed_ of wearing something like this before you met Harry. But he’s helped to bring out a side of you that you never knew existed, and you find that it’s a side you actually quite like...

So, time for a little fun.

While making your way to his home office, your heart races like mad. _Will this even be enough to relax him?_ You had to try.

You fluff your hair before knocking on the door to rouse his attention. You only get a quick, low “come in” in reply but you decide that that's better than nothing. Slowly, you turn the handle and open the door, seeing Harry across the room at his desk. He stands, pencil in between his lips, trying to organize what looks like three different projects on top of his desk and looking incredibly grumpy as he does so.

You stand in the doorway, leaning against the frame as you try to look as seductive as you can. You put your hand on your hip and clear your throat when he doesn't look up, too focused on what’s on his desk. Harry looks up at last with narrowed eyes, previously from glaring at his work, before they widen at the sight of you.

That got his attention.

"Hey.” You give him a sultry wave. Damn, you're never going to get over the way he looks at you like that. Harry remains silent, taking the pencil out if his mouth as he takes you all in. He comes out from around his desk, head tilted in a predatory-like manner and eyes that were light in colour are now a lustful darker shade. Harry stalks his way over to you, as if ready to pounce.

“Why don’t you take a little break?” you suggest in a tempting voice. When he reaches you, you play with his shirt collar. “Maybe think about something _else_?”

He's still totally speechless, his eyes travelling up and down your body over and over like he can't believe the sight before him. You're fairly certain you've already achieved your goal because he is _not_ thinking about work anymore, that's for certain.

You slowly lean up and kiss his slightly parted lips, hoping to bring him out of his current daze. Harry responds almost instantly, groaning against your lips. His hands run down your sides, over the thin, lacy fabric. They run down to rest on your hips for a second before moving a little further down to grasp your ass in his strong hands, pulling you closer to his body. You gasp against his perfect lips at the sudden pressure and allow his tongue access into your mouth.

God, he makes you so hot.

Harry walks you back until you hit the wall. He pulls away for a moment to look down at your scantily clad self again, smirking.

“You’re not a flower,” he says, “you’re a little minx.”

You grin cheekily up at him, taking your lip between your teeth as your hands card through his hair.

"Mmm... tell me you don't love it," you whisper into his ear before nibbling on his lobe.

"You know I do," he tells you, letting his lips lock onto your neck where he starts sucking a mark on your skin. You let out a small moan, his hands going up your sides under the sheer dress-like material. Feeling your curves, he pulls you flush against his body then back again to survey you, a sort of deep hunger in the look he’s giving you.

"What do you need Harry?" you ask, a smirk growing on your face, getting so close to him that your lips are barely touching. No longer the wholesome girlfriend, but his skilled seductress.

"I need _you_. And I'm going to take you," he answers roughly against your lips before kissing you deeply. As much as you and he both love your sexy lingerie, Harry rapidly undresses you from it, untying the bow in between your shoulder blades and ghosting his fingers down your arms as he pulls the straps down to reveal your chest. You’re sure you can almost see him actually drooling as he looks down at your breasts, leaving the lace draped around your hips.

You take over, pushing it down to the floor and shimmy out of the scrap of fabric that passes for panties with this particular item, baring all of yourself to him. Harry licks his lips with a heavy lust.

And then his mouth is everywhere, biting and sucking on every patch of skin he can get at. You can feel his urge, his _need_ to ravish you and you’re sure to encourage him with little murmurs in his ear, inviting him to take what he wished.

You start to unbutton his shirt, pulling it up from where it was tucked in and push it from his shoulders so it falls to the floor. You mewl as he takes you somewhere so far, the place where only you two can be. You run your hands over his heated skin all the way to his broad shoulders and up to his dark hair. Harry makes a low groan at the feel of your fingers threading through it. As for your mewls, this only drives his hunger as his hands find your hips, gripping them again before trailing down to your thighs. Harry pulls away from your skin to tower over you once more.

"Jump." He wasn't asking or suggesting. No.

He demanded it.

He crouches down a bit and you hop up to wrap your legs around his waist and your arms around his neck. He traps you against the wall, where his mouth and hand attack your breasts - licking and swirling one with his tongue while his hand kneads and pinches the other. Your desperate sounds only spur Harry on further, especially if his straining erection in his pants is any indication.

You can feel the way he's beginning to grind himself against you, creating the friction that you both want. You move against him a couple of times and hear the low growls that come from his throat.  
"God, I want you inside me, Harry. Whatever you need, I-I'm all yours," you say breathlessly, in between your noises of pleasure. He pulls away from your chest, looking at you with lust-blown pupils.

"I know you are, Kitten," he says in a low tone as his lips ghost over yours. He plays with his dog tags that still remain around your neck as always. "But I want you to call me _Daddy_."

This snaps you out of your hazy pleasure.

_Did he say...?_

Did you hear him correctly?

"H-Harry, what...?"

 _This is new._ _  
_

"Call me Daddy and I'll give you what you need..." he answers, yet another smirk forming on his lips, taunting you. Hell, _enticing_ you to play this game. His eyes dip down to look over every inch of you before leaning into your ear to whisper, "I’ll give you what we’re both craving."

You chew on the inside of your cheek, feeling that fire inside you ignite. He grinds his clothed self harder against your already wet folds, eliciting another small noise from you, wanting you to say it. And oh, you will. You'll give in to any of his wild needs, as long as he takes care of you and yours.

"D-Daddy," you quietly moan out as he presses himself harder against you.

“Louder.”

“Daddy, please!”

It’s like your cry sends shockwaves through the both of you. Harry reaches down to take your ass in his hands to carry you over to his desk where he sets you down, spinning your body so your spine rests against his hard chest. Harry presses down on your back so your breasts are flat against the desktop. You crane your head to watch him hurriedly strip himself of his pants and boxers. His erection is revealed to you as he removes his clothes, finally as naked as you are, and you grin at how well your plan is working.

You're his perfect distraction.

He stands behind you, in between your legs, a hand gripping your hip while the other helps in lining himself up with your entrance. Your eyes meet his, your breathing still heavy as you speak.

"Go on. Take me, Daddy."

And that’s all it takes to set Harry off. You, splayed out on his desk, naked and ass on display below him, uttering those sinful words and all his to devour.

A wry smirk tugs at his lips as he rams his hard length into you - not slowly and with no warning. Nothing but pure, unadulterated lust stirs in the air from you both.

You moan loudly, falling into a daze and allowing him to do as he pleases with your body.

“You’re so fucking sexy, Kitten. You almost made me come on the spot showing up looking like that.”

Harry thrusts vigorously into you, moving desperately, wanting to feel all you have to offer. He spreads your legs to find a better angle to hit your core so that he can plunge into you even harder, deeper.

"Ah- r-right there, Daddy, yes, right there."

“Uh- your pussy feels so good,” he groans, “so perfect.” His stress is long behind him now. Any and all thoughts in his head now are only those of fucking you senseless, subconsciously releasing his tensions.

“You want me to make you come, baby?”

"Fuck, y-yes! Oh God, Daddy, _yes_!" you cry out as he relentlessly rams himself into you, wanting him to know how he's making you feel. This is unlike any other time you've had together. This is Harry at his most wild and you absolutely love it.

You can feel yourself getting so close your climax, your fingernails scraping down the desktop just as his are digging into your hips.

“Take it, baby, take my cock,” he says through gritted teeth. You swing a leg up onto the desk to feel him even better, both of you covered in a thin layer of sweat from the intensity of your movements.

“I-I’m... I’m-“ Your high pitched whine alerts him of you now reaching the brink. He lets out his own little grunts too. God, you're both teetering on the edge.

You feel yourself start to tighten around him as he growls: "That’s it. Come for me, baby girl, come for Daddy."

His words are like magic because the instant he utters them, your body obeys him, walls constricting around his cock and coming hard for him through strangled cries of passion. Harry continues to thrust into you until he finally reaches his own shuddering orgasm not long after, spilling into you. His eyes squeeze shut at the sensation before he collapses against you, his cheek burning against your back. Once the stars disappear from behind your eyes and when Harry gains his composure, he turns you around to face him to bury his face in your chest which is still rapidly rising and falling with your heavy breaths. You slowly lift your hands up and gently play with Harry's dark curls.

"Do you feel better now, honey?" you ask him as he presses a kiss to your heart.

"Mm, always with you, Kitten. Always with you," Harry whispers against your heated skin, kissing his way up to your lips. He’s once again slipping back into the Harry you recognize.

“Thank you,” he then says, gazing into your eyes.

"Trust me when I say it was my pleasure," you say with a grin and he laughs a little with you. He leads your tired self to join him for a moment, sitting back in his chair with you comfortably in his lap. Harry smiles, a small shimmer in his eyes as he threads his fingers through your hair.

“You’re far too good to me,” he says.

"I just want to help you," you reply tenderly, giving him a quick kiss.

"You certainly did that."

You smile before looking a little uncertain. "And now if you want to help _me_ , then I think you might need to carry me to bed because I'm not sure I can walk..."

You pretend to pout at him, your fingers playing with the chain of the dog tags. He kisses your forehead and carefully wraps an arm around your waist and one under your legs.

“Let’s go to bed,” he says, leaving his work behind and scattered across his desk.

_Mission accomplished._


	13. Chapter 13

 

 

The newspapers and blogs still won’t stop posting candid photos and gossip articles about you and Harry and your relationship. It’s been months and yet they are still relentless. While some blogs post about how perfect a couple you two make, others are more slanderous, claiming he’s corrupting you with the mysterious darkness that follows him and keeping you locked away.

At least Iris has been doing her best in levelling these fluff pieces with more intellectual ones featuring his latest (legal) endeavours with S.T.A.R. Labs, showing the excellent work he does in the name of making Central City a better place. But despite her attempts, the majority of the informed public still can’t get past his ultimate and unspeakable mistake. Harry tries to keep a watchful eye out for the hidden cameramen when he’s out with you, because the next time he sees one, they’re going to be in a world of hurt.

As it happens, it’s when Harry takes you home from a late night date at your new favourite restaurant - the one he had first taken you to - that he spots one of those agitative paparazzi in his periphery.

Skulking around his property no less.

Harry gives you a quick kiss when you get out of the car.

“Aren’t you coming?” you ask him.

“I’ll be right in, Flower,” he replies, “I just want to take care of something real quick.”

“Okay,” you lean up to kiss him and tease, “just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Harry makes sure you’ve been inside long enough to sneak up on where this perpetrator was hiding. He never even heard Harry approaching the bushes until it was too late. Harry yanks the man by his shirt collar and shoves him against the tree behind him. He clutches the photographer’s throat and holds the camera in his other hand.

“Have you been selling photos to CCPN? Tell me who you work for,” Harry snarls. The man chokes, unable to answer. “It can’t just be the paper. Is it Merlyn?” Harry throws the camera down to the ground. “ _Tell me_!”

“Y-es…” the man croaks, eyes bulging, “Mer...lyn…”

“Have you been giving him intel?”

When the perpetrator doesn’t answer, deliberately this time, Harry shakes him violently by the neck. The man starts nodding and manages a, “yes.”

“What does he _want_? Tell me, goddammit!” His anger overtakes him, blinds him, and ends up choking the photographer until his eyes roll back in his head and then slumps to the ground. Harry checks the man’s pulse.

Dead.

He bends down to check the photos that were taken on the camera. Each of them with one constant element: You.

You at Jitters getting a coffee.

You and Harry on dates.

You walking into your apartment. Into Harry’s home.

Walking arm in arm with him.

Kissing him.

And… oh no…

A series of shots of you in your lingerie, seducing Harry in his office. Being taken from behind at his desk...

This was bad.

He flicks through all of the photos before taking the SD card out of the camera and sliding it into his inside jacket pocket. No way would he ever allow you to see these. He’s almost sure that the explicit pictures of you two together were more to do with the man’s surveillance job, but if he’d ever released them to the paper…

The resulting mess didn’t even bear thinking about.

No, Harry would keep this safe and by extension, you, and hide it away from any other potential prying eyes.

 

* * *

 

"Fucking Merlyn and his band of jackwagons," Harry mutters in the darkness of the hallway, then finally reaches the sanctity of his bedroom. He had taken much longer than he’d said he’d be, having to find a solution to the dead body on his property.

Nothing a quick call to the Inner Circle couldn’t fix.

Harry sees you clutching his dog tags in your sleep when he enters, beat from your night out. He smiles to himself because he knows you wear them all the time as a reminder that he will indeed come home to you. He loves that they’re always around your neck and on display. That way people will think twice about bothering or laying a hand on you.

They’d have hell to pay otherwise.

Without meaning to, Harry makes a bit of noise as he shuffles around the room to change for bed, which causes you to wake up sleepily. You rub your eyes.

"Harry?"

"I'm here, Flower,” he whispers, crawling into bed, pulling the covers up and sliding in next to you. All this week, he’s been working himself hard to keep the upper hand in the fight against his territory. His rugged outward appearance and the way in which he’s been responding to his men still hasn’t changed since you tried to distract him. Your fingers run lazily through his hair and down to rub his stubbly cheeks. It always calms him significantly when you do this. Harry leans into your touch. You kiss his forehead sweetly, and he snuggles into your arms. But he can’t help but cringe a little.

Your voice is in his head, “Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” You’re the only thing that keeps him going in all of this, but he feels almost wrong - touching you with the same hands that just took a man’s life. He had promised himself that he wouldn’t kill again now that you were in his life and yet he broke that promise tonight.

But what if it was required in order to keep you safe?

You cup his face and kiss his nose, then whisper, "Get some sleep, Harry. Everything that you’re thinking can wait until morning. I'll be here when you wake up."

“Mmm...” He’s so tired he can’t even form proper words anymore. Your relaxed heartbeat slowly puts him to sleep. The last thing he sees is you intently watching his eyes struggle to stay open as he eventually gives into a tranquil sleep, surrounded by your presence and warmth.

Until the middle of the night, when he’s trapped inside a gruesome nightmare of you being savagely murdered right in front of him.


	14. Chapter 14

 

A sudden outburst beside you in bed brings you out of your deep sleep.

“Hmm...?” you say groggily. After your eyes adjust to the room, you notice Harry sweating through the bedsheets, tossing and turning and grunting in his sleep, a slave to what you assume is a bad dream.

“ _Harry_?” Finally, he breaks through thanks to the concern in your voice. He bolts upright and breathes heavily, startled in the darkness of the room. You place your hand on his arm which he covers with his own and holds it tight. You ask if he’s alright, but he starts to worry you when he doesn’t respond, just staring straight ahead at nothing. This has never happened before, this kind of fit. You take Harry’s hand and try to get him to look at you.

"What's wrong?"

“Hmm? Nothing. It’s nothing, go back to sleep.”

"Hare." You brush your hair to the side and give him a look that you know he's keeping something from you.

“I _can’t_...” he says pathetically. You can see whatever it is, it’s hurting him, and you’ve never seen Harry hurt like this before. You carefully move to kneel in front of him and cup his face with both of your hands, seeing the slight glimmer of tears welling up in his eyes.

“Please tell me. I need to know so I can help you. _Please,_ Harrison...”

"I..." He averts his gaze before looking back up to your eyes. "I watched you die. Brutally. Right in front of me and I couldn't do anything. I couldn’t move. You _died_ because of me." Your heart is breaking for him. You can only imagine what that dream could have looked like to him.

"It was just a bad dream, Harry. I'm right here," you say, taking his hand and guiding it to your beating heart. You stroke his temple with your thumb, pressing your forehead against his. Harry breathes you in like you’re the only thing he needs to survive in this world.

"I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere," you tell him, “Remember?” He doesn’t respond with words, though his breathing is starting to return to normal. You both stay still like this for a while. Harry’s eyes close, and you can tell he’s trying to soak in your presence, letting it anchor him to reality.

"I'm just worried…” he starts again quietly, “one day I'll lose you and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. I'd be completely powerless, robbed of you, and it would kill me. It would _kill_ me, (Y/N)...” Your chest tightens up at his vocalized fears and the way he’s desperately looking at you. You pull him close so that his head rests against your chest.

“Not going to happen. Ever. Not on my watch,” you make the promise, of which you’re not sure you can necessarily keep, but you'll do your very best to keep it because damn everything to hell if you're going to ever have this man more broken than he already is.

Harry exhales as if the weight of his worries are finally leaving his body and mind. At least, for the night. You pet his hair, his arms, his chest all to calm him back into sleeping again.

Harry shifts you over in bed so that he ends up spooning you, holding you close as if you’ve become his security blanket. You hear the tell-tale signs of him falling asleep after a bit, leaving you still awake, deep in thought.

You fear you are becoming exactly what you’d hoped not to be. His weakness. A fragile point that someone can target to get at Harry and his business. You let out a small sigh at your realization. You’ll have to get stronger, for his sake, so that his dream will _never_ come true.

 

* * *

 

The following morning, you fidget with your hands just before Harry is about to leave for work. He’s not going to like what you have to say, but damn it, you’re going to say it anyway!

“Harry, I know you said I’d never have to fight… but I want you to teach me self-defence.” Your tone is defiant and confident as you stand in front of your boyfriend.

“I- why?” he asks, narrowing his eyes. You can tell he’s reluctant to show you anything that would potentially lead you into any kind of danger.

“Last night… your dream, _nightmare,_ it got me thinking. I want to be able to protect myself if anything were to happen-”

“-Nothing is going to happen to you,” he cuts in, seemingly resolved after his outburst last night. “I’m always going to be there to protect you.”

“But what if you’re _not_ , Harry?” you implore, “You can’t always be around ‘just in case’ someone attacks me. And I love you, but I’m not really into the whole ‘damsel-in-distress’ thing. I want to be able to look out for myself, whether you’re there or not.”

The corner of Harry’s lips turn up at your confidence, and you can see him turning the decision over in his mind.

“Alright… self-defence _only_. Some hand to hand combat, just enough to get yourself out of trouble.”

You grin up at him before slipping your arms around his middle and hugging him tightly.

“Thank you, Harry. When do we start?”

Harry seems to like your eagerness. “Come to the Labs after you finish at the shop and we can get started. We have training rooms under the building.”

“Is there anything you don’t do there?” you ask, to which he smiles and kisses the top of your head.

But, you do as he says and as soon as you lock up after a moderately busy day, you walk the few blocks to S.T.A.R. Labs, already dressed in your workout outfit. Harry meets you at the building’s entrance dressed in a pair of shorts, a tank top, and a hoodie.

All black, naturally.

“Welcome back, sweet pea.” He kisses you hello. “We’re going to head down to the training facility in the basement.”

“Okay,” you say and let him lead the way inside.

It’s an impressive setup - dozens of training rooms all throughout the lowest level. As Harry leads you to your own room, you peek in through the windows seeing his men go at each other viciously. You’re glad they’re on your side.

Your room is completely padded on every wall, including the ceiling. You wring your hands together, unable to help but feel a little nervous now that this is actually happening.

“Where do we start?” you ask.

“Show me your best punch.”

You go to stand directly in front of him, planning to aim for his upper chest area. Pulling back your arm, you let it go and your fist collides with his body.

He doesn’t even flinch.

You try it again with a little more force behind it.

“No, come on. Hit me," Harry says with a little smirk, making a small 'come at me' motion as you stand in front of him, pouting a bit at his teasing.

"I _am_! You're just so muscular that you can't even feel it!"

You take another swing at him, but he easily blocks you and makes you stumble backwards a few paces.

“You can’t let me use your momentum against you.” He starts to circle you on the mat. “Make your movements smaller, more compact. That’s how you’ll win a fight,” he tells you as you look at him with a determined expression. Although, it was difficult to soak in what he had just told you because Harry had shed his black hoodie, now showing off his jaw-dropping arm muscles that you’ll never tire of. You have the urge to run your hands over them, to feel his sinewy biceps...

"Kitten?"

"Huh, yeah?"

"Were you paying attention?"

"Pft! Yeah, I was totally paying attention and not staring at your… wonderfully muscled body..." your words dying down as you speak. You look at the floor in embarrassment. "I'm trying, okay?" you say with a little laugh, cheeks tinged with pink.

"I know." He comes up behind you, helping position your arms and legs to get a good hit. Not that that does much for your concentration either, because you can’t deny that you _love_ the way his toned body is pressing up against yours.

"And as soon as you can land a good couple of hits, you should have me distracted enough to sweep my leg out so I go down. Got it?"

"Uh... I think?"

You shake yourself out of your little daydream and focus on his instructions because you know he really is trying to help and it is crucial that you get this right. Since Harry initially didn’t want you having anything to do with training of any kind, you needed to prove how serious you were about this. No more would you be his weakness. It takes several more attempts, but finally, you manage to pin him to the mat, a huge grin growing on your face in realization that you actually did it.

"I did it!"

You’re totally unaware that you're straddling his hips. You throw your arms up in triumph, and his hands automatically fly to your hips when they're freed from you, with a small smile on his face. He lifts himself up so that he sat upright, your chests touching and presses a deep kiss to your lips.

"I'm proud of you," he says quietly, still wearing a gentle smile. You return it, wrapping your arms around his neck and hugging him. Harry gives you small kisses in celebration, which you make happy noises at, lips smacking against each other. But Cisco just _has_ to walk into the practice room to see you two kissing like this on the ground.

"Hey, we practice here!" he exclaims.

You feel your face get warmer at getting caught and climb out of Harry's lap and up off of the floor. Harry rolls his eyes at Cisco.

“How about a break, Flower? You’re doing so well. I’m impressed.” Harry hands you your water bottle and a towel to wipe the sweat that was glistening on your forehead.

“Thank you.”

“Would you like to have a look in on how my team trains?” You nod at the suggestion, Harry taking your hand and leading you out of the room.

"I wouldn't use the mat on the left," he says to Cisco as you walk away and you catch the younger man’s eyes go wide.

"Harry! But we didn't do anything!"

"He doesn't need to know that," he tells you with an amused smirk. He guides you down the hall and around a corner to a much more extensive training area where several men are paired off against each other.

_This is intense._

“Wow... they’re good.”

“I only recruit the best.” You stare in awe at the masterful moves presented before you on the mats. One man holds the other in a headlock, face turning red and unable to breathe. You tug on Harry’s arm.

“Harry, he’s killing him. Aren’t you going to do something?!”

Your boyfriend stays where he is, eyes narrowed at the desperate struggle in front of him. He seems too invested, curious even, at the outcome.

Just when it seems like the brutal end, the man in the submissive hold locks his leg around the other’s while keeping his back curved forward. Bending his knees and turning one hundred and eighty degrees outward, he pulls his attacker’s arm diagonally across his body and throws him down hard on the mat.

“Oomph!”

Harry starts a slow clap and smiles proudly. The rest of the onlookers in the room join in the applause. You clap too, once you shake yourself out of your shocked daze. You had really thought he was going to die…

You take Harry’s hand.

“Let’s go again,” you say eagerly.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

You and Harry go back to sparring in your training room, with you having found a little boost in your motivation to become better at this.

You manage to pin Harry to the mat a couple of times in a row, but then he starts making it harder and you realize he’s been taking it reasonably easy on you so far. He pins you to the mat once, flips you over so you land on your hands and knees another (although he had been fairly gentle in lowering you to the ground) and you are currently standing in front of him with his arm around your neck, just showing you what could happen if this was a more hostile environment.

“What did I tell you?” he whispers in your ear, “Don’t let me-”

“-get behind you, yeah, I know,” you say exasperatedly, holding onto his forearm which rests in front of your throat.

“Now, how would you get out of this one, Flower? You can’t overpower me,” Harry asks, looking at you intently.

“Well, I’m seriously considering kicking you where it’s going to hurt, but I might hold off on that in case I ever want to have children with you,” you reply with a smirk, turning your head to look at his amused blue eyes. Although something flickers in them at your words… something you can’t quite place. You feel your cheeks warm at the thought that he’s thinking about what you’ve just said. _Oh god, no, it’s far too early to be considering that._

“I do appreciate your restraint, Flower,” he says with a chuckle, planting a quick kiss to your cheek. “But if you ever do get in a situation like this, I think it’d be highly effective.”

You use your entire body’s strength to flip Harry to the ground, catching him off-guard in his affectionate state. You detect a series of emotions in his eyes below you - the first being surprise, then clearly proud, then… arousal?

Harry clears his throat, “Well done.”

“Thank you.”

“Think you can do it again?”

You smirk and say, “I think so, yes.”

Harry holds up a finger to you. “Hang on.” He gets up from the floor and leaves the room for maybe two minutes, only to return with a few large men.

You feel your stomach drop at the sight of them and point between yourself and your potential opponents. “You want me… them? Really?”

“It’s not going to be me you’ll find attacking you,” he puts. “Strangers. Big guys. And here they are.” Harry stands behind you with his hands on your shoulders. He leans in to whisper in your ear, “Go get ‘em.”

With a daring, verging on mean, expression, you bend your knees in a ready position. _Let’s kick some ass._

Your challenger fake-lunges at you in trying to catch you off guard, but you are far too focused to take the bait. You circle each other, but the man is fast - he grabs your wrist and spins you so that your back is against him. His arm is around your neck, but luckily you’re still able to breathe since you have your hand lodged in between your windpipe and his arm. It’s the same hold Harry had caught you in.

But this time, you don’t hold back.

You ram your elbow into your mock-foe’s gut, knocking him off balance, then take _his_ wrist this time and twist. And the pièce de résistance - a sharp knee to the groin. He bends over in agony, and you start to express your apologies, but the man holds up a hand to say he’s okay.

You are thrilled you did so well, and by the look on Harry’s face, so is he.

“Good, um, match?” you congratulate the man, now sitting. He mumbles something which sounded like, “you too.”

“I think that’s enough for today, Flower.” Harry goes to rub your shoulders. “You were exceptional.”

“Thanks to you.” He grins down at you, hand on your lower back as he ushers you out of the training room, leaving everyone to continue their practice. You notice a tall figure standing at the end of the corridor and squint.

“Harry, who’s that over there?” you ask, pointing at a man you’ve never seen before in the building. He stares into one of the training room windows where two others are battling each other.

Harry recognizes the man in the distance, “That’s James, our new bookkeeper. So far he’s passed our entry tests, but we’ll see how he does on the job.”

You nod. The two of you walk down the hall, moving closer to the new addition to Harry’s team. The man, James, senses this and turns to greet his boss.

“Good evening, Sir,” he says.

“James,” Harry replies, “You’re here late.”

“Thought I’d see how the other half conducts themselves.” James’ eyes move to you. He smiles, then introduces himself.

“I saw you fight a little while ago,” he says, “I’m impressed.”

_He was watching us? How did I not notice?_

“Thank you,” you say, “It was my first time.”

“Had me fooled.”

“I have a very skilled teacher,” you grin, looking up at Harry, who’s smiling back.

“I have no doubt about that. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” He nods to Harry, “Sir.” The man takes his leave, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“He seems nice,” you muse. “Great accent, too.”

Harry doesn’t say anything, eyes glued to the bookkeeper’s back, watching him walk away and into the elevator.

 

***

 

The Dark Archer, Malcolm Merlyn, paces the room while his mole stands before him, arms behind his back.

“Do the cops have enough to arrest Wells?”

“Not yet,” the British spy replies, “but they soon will. When they get an anonymous tip telling them to look at his books, they’ll have all they need to tie him to his activities at the docks. And soon, I’ll know where all his bodies are buried. Figuratively and literally.”

“Good.” Malcolm pauses and moves to the window of his office at Merlyn Global Group overlooking the night lights of Star City. “He knows we know about his sweetheart but nothing _needs_ to happen to her. I’ll settle for breaking him by having him only be able to see her from behind a pane of glass.”

The mole waits awkwardly by the mobster’s desk.

“What, you’re still here?” Merlyn catches his spy in the window’s reflexion.

“I just need to know- What has Wells done to you why you’re after him and his empire?”

“Not that it’s any of your goddamn business, but the bastard killed my wife in that explosion. Now get out. And don’t come back until the deed is done.”


	15. Chapter 15

Harry sits at his desk, working intently on some  _legal_  S.T.A.R. Labs business. He’s already had two people come and grovel to him over the fact that this newest piece of tech isn’t ready for manufacture yet and that the company was going to have to find the extra money for it somewhere. He’d only dropped you off at the shop just over two hours ago, but it seems that since then, everything has gone to shit. **  
**

Just as he thinks he’s beginning to solve the problem with the device’s schematics, there’s a knock on his office door and Matthew steps into the room.

“Yes?” Harry asks curtly, huffing that he’s being interrupted at such a crucial stage.

“Doctor Wells, there’s a detective here to see you. He says it’s urgent.”

“Send him in,” Harry orders, pinching the bridge of his nose. This is the last thing he needs. Matthew withdraws from the office and Harry hears him tell the detective to enter in his place.

A blond man steps into the room as Harry gets out of his chair, rounding the desk to shake the other man’s hand. But the resolute expression that he sees warns him that he needs to be very careful with what he says from here on out. This is a man on a mission.

“Detective Thawne, isn’t it? You’re West’s partner. What can I do for you?” he asks, trying to start this off civil.

Thawne stands in front of him as Harry leans back against the edge of his desk. “You might as well cut the niceties, Wells, I know you’re going to be as difficult as you can be,” he says, his smile telling Harry that he believes he has the upper hand here.

“And why’s that exactly?” Harry counters, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I’ve received a tip-off that something isn’t quite right with your accounts. I’m going to need to see your books,” Thawne tells him in a commanding tone, putting his hands on his hips to reveal his badge and gun.

Harry gives a wry smile and a small huff of laughter, glancing at the revealed items then raises an eyebrow. “If you think you scare me, Detective, you’re mistaken. I’ve dealt with people far more intimidating than you.” Harry follows this up with a look, heading back to his chair behind his desk and taking a seat. Without looking back up at the younger man, he says, “Come back with a warrant, and I’ll get you my books.”

“Got something to hide?” the detective pushes, taking a step closer to the desk and getting Harry to look at him again.

“I just don’t like people I don’t trust going through my things.”

“Well, it seems that someone you  _do_  trust is ballsing it up for you anyway. How else would I have gotten a tip?” He places his hands firmly on the desk’s surface and looks menacingly at Harry. “And I tell you now - if I find anything crooked in them when I get that warrant? Next time, I’ll be turning up on your doorstep to arrest you.”

Harry leans forwards in his chair, resting his elbows on the desk and tenting his fingers in front of him. “Is that a threat, Detective?”

“Everyone knows that you’re up to your neck in illegal activity. We just need someone who cares about  _justice_  enough to prove it.”

“And that’s you, is it?”

“Yes,” he replies immediately. “I’m working with this tip now, but I’ve got plenty more angles I can work it from. Your girlfriend seems to have a particularly soft spot for the metas. Maybe if I charged her with aiding and abetting fugitives of the law, we can see how quickly you’d cave then. Either that or  _she’s_  bound to know  _something_ , maybe enough to put you away for good.”

The mention of you makes all the civility fly out of Harry’s demeanour. He stands, anger almost visibly radiating from him. “She would have the best lawyer in this city at the snap of my fingers. You leave her  _alone_ ,” he growls back.

“Way to show that you’re not corrupting her with all this, Wells.”

Harry pushes off from the desk, and in a few long strides, gets right in the detective’s face.

“If you even  _think_  about coming after me or my girlfriend without a warrant again, not having a job will be the least of your problems. Trust me.”

Thawne takes a step away, a small triumphant smile on his lips, knowing that he’s managed to find Harry’s pressure point.

“I’ll let that one slide, but sit tight, Wells. I’ll be back, and this palace of yours is going to come tumbling down, brick by brick.”

Harry watches as Detective Thawne leaves the room, throwing his fist down on the desktop after the door has closed.

But he doesn’t have time to linger on this threat right now. He has to check that the books aren’t going to reveal anything incriminating. This will certainly be a test of his new bookkeeper’s ability. Harry has maybe twenty-four hours before Thawne comes back with his warrant.

He calls Matthew back in and orders him to find James and have all the accounts brought up to his office. The possibility of a mole tipping off the police in the first place would also have to be dealt with.

After these actions have been set in motion, Harry takes a deep breath and runs a hand over his face. He knows what he needs right now, and he just hopes that you’ll be able to make some time for him.

Taking his phone from his pocket, he finds your contact and dials your number, waiting a few rings for you to pick up.

“Hey, Harry, everything okay?” He can hear the concern in your voice and smiles at your sweetness despite himself.

“Hey, Flower. I’m having a  _nightmare_  of a day and I wondered if you could spare half an hour to have lunch with me?”

You pause for a second, likely looking at the clock before answering. “Of course, baby, give me twenty minutes and I’ll be there.”

“You’re amazing,” he replies, feeling himself relax a little while you let out a small chuckle.

“I try,” you reply. “Hang in there.”

 

* * *

 

You end the call with Harry, looking at a couple of customers who were browsing the flowers. While you wait to be able to head to your lunch break, you make a little bundle out of the daisies you have near the counter. It sounds as though Harry could do with something to brighten his day besides having you pop in to see him.

You serve both the customers, doing up a quick bouquet for one and take an order down for the other. After making sure to grab your bag, you put the little sign in the window to say you were going to lunch, and head over on the road to the S.T.A.R. Labs building.

The people inside give you their polite greetings as you make your way to the elevator to head to Harry’s office. As soon as the doors open, you’re striding over to Harry’s door, lightly rapping your knuckles on it before opening it up.

“Harry?”

“(Y/N),” he replies, head snapping up at the sound of your voice. “Come on in.”

You grin back, but before closing the door, you take one of the daisies from the bundle and slide it into the lock as a message to everyone that Harry has you over. You want him to be able to tell you whatever is going on with him without interruption.

As you close the door, Harry, just in his shirtsleeves, gets up and meets you halfway across the room to take you in his arms, giving you a tight hug.

“ _That_  bad, huh?” you say, hugging him back and gently smoothing your hands up and down his back. He buries his face into your neck, and you reach one hand up to pull him closer to you, combing your fingers through his hair.

After a minute of standing in each other’s embrace, Harry pulls back and looks at you, studying your face. Your hands go to his cheeks as you let out a small sigh.

“Who hurt my man, hmm? Let me at ‘em,” you joke as Harry lets out a little hum of laughter.

“It’s err, it’s nothing for you to worry about, Flower, it’ll all be alright. As long as I have you by my side,” he replies, bringing his hands up to hold your own, a reassuring smile on his face. You study him for another second before moving around him to place the daisies in the vase you’d given him. You turn back around when they’re in place and you can see from his expression that he’s so grateful for the gesture.

He leads you over to the couches on the other side of the room where two paper bags emblazoned with ‘Big Belly Burger’ already sit waiting for you. Raising an eyebrow, you take a seat and pull one of the bags towards you, taking out the cartons of fries and pass one to Harry.

“I didn’t have you pegged as a fan of fast food, Mister Fine-Taste?” you tease, taking a fry and eating it as he sits down next to you.

“Sometimes I like a… change of pace,” he tells you with a smile, passing you a milkshake after poking the straw in it. You thank him and take a sip before bringing up the previous topic again.

“You know I’m not going to let it go that easily, right? You asked me over here to  _talk_ , I can tell, but now you’re trying to shut me out… Talk to me, Harry, whatever it is, I can take it.”

You put your hand over his on the table and look into his eyes, intently trying to get him to open up. He sighs and runs his free hand over his face before looking back at you.

“A detective came to see me… Thawne? He works with West. You might have come across him-“

“-we’ve had a couple of run-ins,” you mutter and Harry nods.

“Well, if you have any more, you need to call me immediately, okay, Flower?” Harry puts his hand over yours and looks intently into your eyes. “Thawne has a lead on me… but if that doesn’t work out, he’s threatened to come after  _you_  in order to bring me down. And I’m not going to let that happen.”

“But we’re together. Surely there has to be some sort of rule to stop him from doing that? You know I’d never willingly testify against you, right?”

“Of course I do… But no, sweetheart, that unfortunately only applies to spouses and you’re not my wife yet…”

“ _Yet_? Someone’s keen,” you reply, trying to lighten the mood and Harry chuckles, but his smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. This is too serious for joking around.

“I mean it, though, (Y/N). If Thawne starts trying to tempt you into selling me out or heaven forbid, he arrests you like he’s threatened, you call me, or this number right here.”

He takes a calling card out of his pocket, like the one he’d given you all those months ago and passes it to you. This one is cream with a decorative border around the edge and the words ‘Cecile Horton, Attorney at Law’ printed in the centre, accompanied by a phone number.

“Cecile Horton is the best lawyer I know, and if you need her, she’ll be there. I just want to keep you as protected as I can.”

You nod, squeezing his hand to reassure him that you understand. “I know you’re doing everything you can to keep me safe and I love you even more for it.”

You lean in and softly press your lips to his, and he lets out a small sigh of relief when you part.

“Come on, we need to eat before this goes cold,” you say, nudging his shoulder, “and there is  _nothing worse_  than cold fries.”

Harry gives an agreeing hum and pulls out the rest of the food to split between you. You eat your lunch, talking about making plans for the weekend and generally trying to lighten the mood after the threats of this morning.

And it seems as though your flower has been enough to keep everyone from opening the door and intrude on your private time. You’ve found one of the best parts of dating the CEO of a company/mob boss was that each one of the men who worked for him seemed to be afraid to interrupt him in his office when he was alone with you. When you’ve finished your food, Harry pulls you onto his lap to get you to straddle him, his hands going to your hips as he holds you close.

“Daddy wants some love.”

“Does he indeed?” you ask, running your hands over his shoulders. You place a few kisses on his jaw and he lets out a content little sound. At this, you continue showering him with kisses, cupping his cheeks and nuzzling his nose. “It’s all going to be okay, Harry, I know it will.”

But before he can reply, there’s a knock at the door to his office and a familiar face comes into the room. You blush a little at the intrusion and turn away because of the position you’re currently in. Harry lets out a low growl and instantly appears pissed because it is the new bookkeeper that has interrupted your precious alone time.

“I’ve brought the files, Sir,” he says, taking a few hesitant steps forward with the documents in his hands.

“James, get out,” Harry says curtly.

“But, Sir, I-”

“-James, you’re new here, so I’m going to say this once and only once. Do  _not_  interrupt my time with my Flower.” You forget that he’s even capable of that deadly serious tone because you almost never hear it.

“I-I’m sorry, Sir,” James cowers, “but you-”

“-Leave them here and get out,” Harry orders. The bookkeeper expeditiously removes himself from the room. You turn back to Harry and giggle embarrassedly into his shoulder.

“You’re a very scary man, Harrison Wells.”

“Hell yeah, I am. Now, where were we?” He pulls you back by hooking a finger underneath your chin, bringing you into a heated kiss and running his hands over your sides.

“I should leave you to get on with some work…” you say gently against his lips as you play with the hair at his nape. “It looks like you’re going to be busy with the books.”

“Mm, but I don’t want you to go,“ he says, going in for another kiss only for Cisco and Barry, followed by Frost, to barge in with smug smiles. Only three people were allowed to interrupt you and Harry without suffering his wrath. You quickly climb out of Harry’s lap and you both turn to the others.

"We have intel!” Barry announces.

“What have you got?” Harry asks.

“Okay, first- ew. Like please, we’re at work, man,” Cisco says gesturing a hand to both of you.

“I’m in my office,  _man_ ,” Harry counters.

“Besides the point, bud,” Barry says to Cisco before turning back to Harry. “We located Snart’s next heist. Oliver and his team are going to accompany us there to help.” You can feel Harry study you from his seat because you’ve never been present for any of this particular business before. You’re well aware he wants to keep you safe, and as far as all this is concerned, it’s probably best if you know as little as possible about the specifics. Especially when Thawne is digging around in all this.

“What’s this guy going after?” you ask, crossing your arms in front of you. You catch a small smile grace his handsome face.

“It’s Leonard Snart, so definitely something  _cold_  related. I think it has to do with some sort of new gadget from Palmer Tech?” Barry says unsure, looking to Cisco for confirmation.

“Dude thinks he’s some kind of ice queen or something,” Cisco says, giving Barry a side-eye.

“When really, that description belongs to me,” Frost remarks while making her fingertips blue.

“What are we going to do to stop him?” you inquire, finally learning a bit more about this side of Harry’s life. Why not learn a little bit more about the business? Besides, Harry wasn’t asking you to leave…

“ _We_ ,” Harry says, getting up from the couch and heading out of the office with you four in tow, “are going to come up with something crafty enough to catch him off guard. Can’t have an egomaniac running around destroying cities. Mainly  _my_  city.” Harry turns to you when you reach the elevator, blocking your path.

“Listen, I appreciate you trying to get involved, Flower, but I need  _you_  to go and finish up your day and then go home, it’s too dangerous,” he says, taking your hand.

“But I want to help. Even though it’s dangerous, it’s all for a good cause.”

“I know, but I want,  _need_ , you to be safe, okay? Promise me you’ll go home and wait for me there?”

You sigh in defeat. “Yeah, okay.”

“If you really want to help… I suppose I could have our account books sent home to you to have a look over. That’s as far as I want you in with all of this, though. Just the paperwork. See if everything’s in order? Wouldn’t hurt to have another set of eyes check it through. Eyes I know I can trust… and that are so beautiful.” A big smile works its way onto your face. He really couldn’t bear to see you unhappy. You nod quickly before kissing him.

“Just come back safe.”

“Always. I’ll send a car to the shop at the end of the day to take you home,” he assures and you agree with his decision.

Harry and his trusted team head out just as you head back to Primrose Path to finish out the workday. Once you’re home later that evening, the account books get dropped off and within an hour or two of looking them over, you manage to track several errors and fix them promptly. Seeing everything spread out, it seems to you like the new bookkeeper  _wants_  Harry to get caught… Either that or he  _seriously_  wasn’t right for this job.

_Could there be a spy in our midst?_

_Well, Harry’s going to need to do something about that._

You peer up at the clock, noticing it’s only half-past eight. You hold on to his dog tags which hang around your neck and hope that he’s taking care of himself. You have no idea when to expect him home.

In the meantime, you decide to take a shower and start getting ready for bed, wearing one of Harry’s shirts that he’s basically had to surrender completely to you to use as pyjamas. You crawl into bed and start to read a book in order to take your mind off things, looking towards the door every so often.

It isn’t until you’re half-asleep hours later, lying against the plush pillows with your book next to you, that you register the sound of the bedroom door opening in the back of your mind. You half-hear Harry walk in, stumbling a bit and change out of his suit and into a pair of pyjama pants. Once he gets into bed, he takes you in his arms, causing you to stir fully.

“Harry…?”

“I’m here, baby,” he whispers gently, kissing your forehead.

“Did you sort it out?” you ask sleepily.

“Yeah, Snart won’t be a problem for a while,” he replies, stroking your hair as you snuggle into his chest.

“That’s good.” You press a kiss over his heart. “Harry…” You pause to yawn. “I need to… tell you about the…”

“Shh, you can tell me about whatever it is tomorrow. Right now, we both need sleep. It’s been a long day,” he whispers to you, then kisses your lips. You nod and fall asleep, the warmth of your man surrounding you and filling your senses giving you a feeling of security.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to say folks, but after this chapter, Primrose Path will be going on hiatus until winter break. All three of us are dedicated to being studious and this story takes up some of that time in order to do last minute edits before posting. When we return in the winter, get ready for an intense Second Act! xx

 

You wake the next morning, still curled up in Harry’s embrace, peering up at him to see him looking down at you with a smile on his face. **  
**

“Good morning,” he says. You stretch your arms and smile.

“Good morning,” you reply, bringing a hand up to cup his cheek. It’s then that you notice a small cut above his eye that you hadn’t noticed the night before.

“You got hurt,” you whisper, lightly running your fingers over the cut. The blood had dried off and had begun healing through the night. Harry winces a little since it’s still fresh.

“I’ve had worse,” he rasps out, taking your hand from his face and sweetly kissing it.

“I’m just glad that you’re safe.”

“Facing off against that cold gun-wielding maniac wasn’t easy, but everyone had my back.”

“Good, I’ll remember to thank them for it.”

Harry holds your hand as he speaks again.

“You wanted to tell me something last night?” he asks, looking curiously at you.

“Mm, yeah, I went through your books yesterday - an eye-opening experience to say the least. But I was fixing all the obvious bits and it was almost too easy to link everything together. I don’t think your bookkeeper is on your side…”

Harry is silent, a small frown on his face indicating that he’s in deep thought.

“Odd, though I can’t say I’m wholly surprised, I don’t trust him. But Joe ran a background check on James three times. His history was legit. Unless…”

You quirk up an eyebrow and prop yourself up on your elbow to look at your boyfriend.

“Unless what?”

“He’s working for another mafia undercover. He’s not working for CCPD, Joe’s made that clear.”

“But who would want to take you down? You’re the biggest power in this city, it’s hardly going to be a small job.”

“It’s got to be someone who has everything to gain…” he muses, and you sense he’s holding something back. “Someone who could completely take over the city if I’m out of the picture. I’m not exactly known to share.” You give an understanding smile at that. Harry’s territorial about everything, though especially over you.

“So what are we going to do about it?” you ask, watching his electric blue eyes flicker with an idea.

“For now, rest and prepare for the unexpected. I’ll have the team do some digging around, while Joe looks for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary on his end.” He kisses your lips before trailing his own over your jaw. You run a hand through his hair, sighing at his kisses.

“We should get out of bed and get some breakfast.”

“Mmm, in a minute,” he replies, kissing you again a few more times.

“Harry…” You giggle between kisses, managing to wiggle out of his hold and climb out of bed. “Come cook with me.”

You hold out your hand and he kicks the covers off of him, taking it as you lead him to the kitchen, intent on making pancakes for breakfast.

Whilst attempting to find the pancake mix, you finally notice it’s on the top shelf. You’re on your tiptoes stretching to reach for it. Harry’s dress shirt that you’re wearing rides up and shows off your panties to him. A new and ridiculously expensive pair he’s recently bought you.

“Here, Kitten, let me,” he says after a few seconds of admiring you. He comes forward and easily plucks the packet from the shelf and passes it to you before one hand falls to your ass, giving you a little pat. You look up, realizing what he must have seen and lightly shove his shoulder.

“That’s for later, Mister,” you say coyly before moving away to find a mixing bowl.

Once finding everything you’ll be needing, you get started on making the batter, humming as you stir the ingredients together. The gooey pancake batter becomes so smooth and creamy. You bite your lip trying to hide the mischievous smile that’s growing on your face. Dipping a finger in the batter, you look at Harry, who was busy fiddling with the TV, the remote in his hand.

“Hey, Hare?”

“Yeah?”

And before he knows it, you lather the pancake batter on his nose, breaking out into laughter as you do so.

“Oh, that’s how you want to play it?” he says as you run giggling back towards the kitchen counters as he chases after you. He catches up and grabs you around the middle, tickling your sides as you squeal and laugh out apologies to try and get him to stop.

“I’m sorry,” you say, out of breath and grinning, as you grab a cloth and wipe the mixture from his nose before giving it a little kiss. Harry gives you a genuine grin, only reserved for you, and pecks your lips.

As you both start making the breakfast food, Harry playfully pokes your sides a couple of times just to hear you squeak, and you elbow him lightly in the side to stop.  _Damn, this man and his height._  But you know you love how he always towers over you.

Once you two finish a stack of pancakes, you both sit down to eat your delicious edible towers before going back up to get ready for the day.

You change into a nice little dress, a maroon number with a deep V, and do your hair and makeup as Harry comes back into the room in a fresh suit, looking incredibly dapper himself.

“I’m going to go and give Barry and Cisco the rundown on what we think about James. Do you… want to come?”

You look up at him, mouth slightly agape. “You really want me involved in this? I thought you’d be keeping me as far from your business as possible…”

“I’ve been thinking about it and I… I know I can’t keep you out of it forever,” he says gently, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear, “Besides, you’ve been so much help, I want you to carry on if you’d like? Strictly paperwork. Office duties. Listening in. That sort of thing.  _No_  field work.”

“Yeah, I’d like that,  _Boss_ ,” you agree with a cheeky smirk on your face. Although it drops a little when you notice something. Harry sees your smile drop and raises an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Hm…” You unbutton the top button of his dress shirt. “Better.”

He chuckles at you before taking your hand and leading you out of the house to his car, where you’re driven to the company.

Harry guides you into the S.T.A.R. Labs building with a hand on the small of your back and you’ve barely gotten through the door before Barry and Cisco are on you both, all with things for Harry to check up on. You’re in awe of how he handles everything all at once so well and he hasn’t even stepped foot into his office yet. Caitlin falls back a little to walk with you, letting the boys bounce theories off each other about the mole and what to prepare for. Barry and Cisco were on either side of Harry, rambling on and on.

As you enter the office, Harry turns to you. “Take Cisco through what you found in the books - if you think the cops know of any of it, accounts, shell companies, burn the trail and we’ll replace them.”

You give him a tiny mock salute and a smile, “Sure thing, Boss.”

He gives you a quick kiss. “Cisco will make sure you’re safe in case something happens.”

“Okay.”

“Lead the way, Boss’s lady,” Cisco says, gesturing for you to show him the way. You decide to set up shop in one of the vacant rooms and pull out the books and documents.

The pair of you spend a few hours going through everything, making sure that it was all clear from suspicion. You even start to create a better code to write the accounts in so it would be harder to decipher if someone came snooping.

“Not a bad day’s work, Queenie,” Cisco says after you’ve finished.

“Queenie?” you press.

"That’s how everyone refers to you - the Queen. It started off as your code name for the security detail because Harry’s the King. Well, effectively anyway.”

“Not bad, Ramon, not bad. I like it,” you say amused, but then you fully take in his words. You look back at Cisco beside you, a confused look on your face. “Wait, everyone?”

“Don’t worry, just our people call you that. Central City doesn’t know that they have a reigning Queen,” he responds looking back through the codes and placing some files aside. “They don’t have to know.”

“I think it’s safer that way, we keep to the shadows, right?”

“Right,” Cisco says, grabbing the files and leading you back to Harry’s office. He sits at his desk when you enter, deep in conversation on the phone.

“I don’t know whether you were doing it deliberately or if you’re just that incompetent-” He holds a hand up as if to say ‘one sec’ as Cisco lays the books down. “-But you’re fired.”

Something on Cisco’s wrist beeps. He rests a hand on your shoulder. “I’ll leave you to explain it all. I’ve got to go help Barry and Frost,” he whispers.

You sit down on one of Harry’s comfy couches, zoning out from your thoughts. You run a hand through your hair as your mind processes everything you’re seeing in the company’s accounts and documents.

_This is a really tricky business._

You don’t notice when Harry finishes his call. Not until he sits down next to you, cupping your cheek.

“Flower, you okay?” he asks with concerned blue eyes, snapping you back to reality.

“Yeah… Yeah, it’s just a lot to take in,” you say, “You’ve really got a lot going on and I guess I’ve lost my right to plausible deniability.”

You give a little laugh and he looks concernedly at you.

“You don’t have to be involved. You can go back to the flower shop and leave me to do all this,” he says gently. You take the hand that’s on your cheek and kiss his palm.

Looking up to him, you speak with honesty, “Harry, this is your life. If I’m going to be a part of it then I want all of it. The good and the bad.”

“And the ugly?” he asks.

“And the beautiful.”

He brings you in for a hug and you return it. You smile sweetly.

"Well, Cisco and I fixed your accounting problem. Only he and I can properly read the books now because it’s all coded. The few accounts the police knew about are being closed and the money moved. They won’t have anything on you.”

“Look at you, my little Mafiosa.” Smirking, he kisses your cheek. "Now, about earlier…” Harry says gruffly, pushing you down to lay on the couch.

“Earlier?” you repeat, heart pounding and cheeks flushing a bit.

"You had some very… lacy-looking panties on. Black and,” he responds in a low voice, hovering over you with a predatory glint in his electric blue eyes. “I haven’t been able to get the image of you wearing them out of my head. So tell me, my little Flower, what other secrets are you hiding underneath that dress?”

"Hmm… wouldn’t you like to know?” you say with a sly smile before bringing him down for a long and passionate kiss, his hands tracing up and down your body. Every curve was outlined in the dress you were wearing and that drove him even more wild.

“God, I love you so much,” he hums against your skin as he kisses down your neck and across the part of your chest that was free from the fabric of your dress.

His hands were about to uncover all your ‘secrets’ when his phone rings abruptly. Harry groans and ignores the obnoxious ringing, continuing his kissing trail.

“Harry, ah! Go… answer the phone,” you breathe out. His kisses make you feel all jittery.

“No, I’m spending time with my delicious girlfriend,” he says firmly against your skin. His mouth marking you up, biting and sucking.

“But what if it’s important?”

“You’re more important.”

“ _Harry_ ,” you cup both his cheeks and make him look at you, giving him a certain look.

“…Fine,” he sighs, giving in. He gets off you to pick up the phone. “ _What_?”

“Boss, Frost has been seriously injured!” It sounds like a frantic Barry on the other line.

“What? Where are you? What happened?" 

You stand up from the sofa and look at Harry with your hands covering your mouth.

All of a sudden, a breach opens in the middle of the room where Cisco and Barry stumble through, Frost draped between them, looking as though she’s barely conscious. 

"Oh God,” you run forwards, taking over from Barry while he ran at the speed of sound to get some things to help patch her up. You and Cisco carefully lay Frost on the office couch. Pieces of shrapnel pierce her jacket and deep into her skin.

“Ramon,  _what happened_?” Harry demands, glancing between him and Frost’s wounds.

“She said she was out patrolling the area and these drones came out of nowhere. Like fifty of them and whenever Frost touched them or used her powers they exploded, releasing the shrapnel.”

Barry returns with an armful of all the medical supplies needed (and some irrelevant tools, too).

"They’re laced with some sort of toxin that’s causing more pain than normal,” she tries to explain. Barry hands some syringes and medical tools to you. “I’m going to need your help,” Frost says, hair growing darker and eyes flickering between icy white and brown. She’s transforming back into Caitlin. “And you-” She looks to the agitated men in the room, “-I need you all to leave.”

“It’s a good thing I worked in a hospital, then,” you say, adrenaline kicking in and readying yourself. With instructions from the doctor herself, you get her sedated and get to work on removing the metal pieces from her body.

“We have to work fast, else my healing abilities will kick in and I’ll start to heal while the shrapnel’s still in me,” Caitlin says and you nod in agreement, beginning to work as swiftly and methodically as you can. A woozy Caitlin directs you and you manage by some miracle to accomplish everything she says without a hitch. Not once did you mishandle in each extraction of the shards and you silently thank your weird and wonderful talent of precision. When all is said and done, she then calls Cisco back in, in order to breach her into the med-bay and onto a bed to rest.

You sigh and clean up the blood which was left behind, not noticing the small red smears on your cheek from wiping the sweat away. Harry walks in and finds you sitting down on his other couch with a worried expression on your face, too focused on Caitlin and her critical condition. 

“Hey.” He grabs a cloth from the first aid kit on the floor, wets it, and cleans up your cheek. “She’s going to be fine. Snow’s a fighter.”

“I know. It’s just… they’re all like my family now, so…”

“I understand, Flower. She’s saved my life more times than I can count,” he says, sitting down with you and wrapping an arm around you. You lean into his side, resting your head on his shoulder as you waited.

Cisco breaches back into Harry’s office after a while with Barry by his side.

“She’s going to be okay. Sore and banged up for a day or two it looks like, though,”  Barry assures you.

“Thanks, Bare. I can sit with her now?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“See, she always pulls through,” Harry says with a reassuring smile, getting up and taking your hand to pull you up with him. The pair of you head down to the med-bay and when you see Caitlin on the bed, you let go of Harry’s hand, making a beeline to her bedside. 

“Hey,” you whisper to her, combing her hair to the side.

“Hey,” Caitlin gives you a tired smile. “That was some inspiring work you did earlier. I can’t thank you enough.”

“I did what I had to, Cait.”

Harry comes over to stand next to you and places an arm around your waist. 

"You took quite an assault,” he states to her.

"It was either me or Cisco, and Cisco doesn’t heal as fast as Barry or myself.”

“Speaking of which, we should leave you to rest, Snow. Good work, today. Glad you’re not dead.“

"Yeah,” she says, amused a bit at her gruff yet caring boss, “See you guys later.” You give Caitlin’s hand a little squeeze before leaving the room with Harry.

***

“So, let me get this straight…” Merlyn says slowly. “You not only failed in getting the police to get Wells’ financials but then managed to get caught and subsequently  _fired_  from the position I got you?  _What the hell happened_?”

“ _She_  happened!” James tries to explain. “He let her look over the books, she connected the dots and told him everything. We didn’t think he’d ever involve her, but now… together they could be formidable. She’s given him hope that he’s not had in a long time.”

Merlyn looks frustratedly at him, slamming his fist on the desk.

“Then it’s come to this,” Merlyn muses, “We have to take her out of the picture. It’s time for Wells to know what losing his love feels like.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow us on Tumblr:
> 
> @darlingpetao3  
> @central-city-meta-pocalypse  
> @letyourimaginationrun


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